Better Best Forgotten
by Xanadan
Summary: Finished! Complete! Rating mostly for cursing and sexual references. R&R please... If you don't mind...
1. Memory and Mindless Swearing

**I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter corporation.**

**That happy power belongs to J.K.Rowling and whoever makes the movies and whoever publishes the books.**

The station looked the same as it had one hundred years ago. All the Muggles milled around, gibbering about their mundane lives. 

_"I can't believe Kevin dumped me…" whimpered a woman in a severely annoying voice, while her friends agreed sympathetically. _

_One hundred years ago, the station had been filled with snooty Victorians, talking in their oh-so-posh voices, and lamenting the death of the great Queen Victoria. The air was thick with the steam from the trains and all the bag boys ran around in their scruffy clothes. People had given her frightened glances, and a wide berth. Even today, in this accepting world, as soon as they thought she was out of earshot, they whispered about the strange girl in the funny clothes, with the cheekbones like knives. She didn't give a damn what they thought. She was the way she was. _

_Approaching the magical barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, she paused momentarily…was she doing the right thing?_

_Scolding herself, she ran through the barrier._

She walked calmly through the crowds, while the more informed Ministry personnel gasped in horror. The word spread through the entire platform . People jumped out of her way shrieking. The new first-years took this golden opportunity to act mature, by running around screaming obscenities. Striding confidently through the parting crowds, she noticed a tall, blond boy staring at her. She glanced briefly at him, and he flushed deep scarlet. Frowning, she made her way towards the Hogwarts Express. 

The conductor took her suitcase as though it was a cleverly disguised suitcase bomb. Walking down the aisles, she was ever aware of the pupils staring at her. The blond boy she seen on the Platform was sitting in a compartment with two of the repulsive people she had ever seen. And that was saying something. He continued to gawk at her as she walked through his compartment. She had half a mind to tell him to quit it, but she supposed an admirer was kind of flattering. Even if it was Draco Malfoy. 


	2. Deep Breaths

I do not own any rights to the HP Corporation.

_I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has bothered to review this pathetic excuse for FanFic. _

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------**

Banishing this horrifying thought, she quickly exited that particular compartment, missing the look of disappointment on Draco's face as the empty seat beside him gathered dust. 

She strode through several more rooms before she finally came to an empty one. Settling on the seat, a small click alerted her. Three people had entered the room. 

"Are those seats taken?" asked a tall red-haired boy. 

Biting back a, _"Do they look taken!"_ She replied "No." __ The three of them sat squashed onto one seat.  She eyed them carefully. Two boys, one of them tall, with violent red hair. The other one was shorter, with black hair and strange glasses. The girl, whose hair occupied the remainder of the seat, was shorter than the both of them and was pressed up against in the window in what must have been a very uncomfortable position. The three of them glanced at each other desperately, wanting to talk about something, but not in the presence of a stranger.  "So…" said the red haired one. "Did you go to the World Cup?" "Yeah." she replied absent-mindedly "Wasn't as good as the last one." 

The trio shot scared looks at each other. The last Quidditch World Cup had been 17 years ago.

"I mean, so I've heard." She said quickly, back-pedalling so fast she was in danger of tripping over her feet. 

"You look a bit big to be a first-year." Said the girl quizzically. 

"That's because I'm not a First-year." She said with a grin. The effect was startling. Dark eyebrows pinched together in a friendly sort of frown, and black eyes darted beneath them. 

"I'm starting into fourth year." She explained, still grinning as though she was enjoying a private joke. 

"You just can't start into fourth year," said the black haired one, "you don't know anything."

"I've been at Durmstrang the past three years," she retorted, lying through her teeth, "I have received substansial magical education there and I quite fancied a change!" she had all this very quickly, with her voice rising the entire time, so that when she done, she was almost shouting in his face. She felt the anger bating, and the three persons in the opposite were looking positively terrified. 

"So, what's your name then?" said the girl tentatively.

Shaking her head as though to banish a lingering trace of the anger that had erupted, she said slowly and quietly, in the tone one would take against a seriously stupid 4 year old,

"Daniel Snape."


	3. Don't Wanna Be Your Monkey Wrench

**Again, as I have said, I do not own any rights to the HP storylines, characters, books or associated publications. **

"So, what are your names?" she ventured, making a pathetic attempt at continuing the conversation. Of course, she already knew their names, as Severus ranted on about "Those bloody Gryffindors!" so much. He really should shut up about them. 

"Um, that's Ron, that's Harry and I'm Hermione." the girl said quietly. She had obviously heard of Daniels reputation in the Wizarding world. Still, quite bravely of her, she extended her hand. Daniel reached out and shook it briefly. Hermione drew it away quickly. Too quickly. Daniel noticed and their eyes met briefly. Hermione wouldn't look at her straight. Harry, who was oblivious to all of this, (by the look on Ron's face, he knew all about her too)and not surprising as he lived with the Dursleys, asked, 

"Where do you live then?"  

"London." she replied curtly. 

"Where in London?" asked Hermione, in the annoying tones of someone who thinks they have won something.

"In Oxford, near Bichester." she said smoothly. 

"You live with your parents?" said Ron, in the same nerve-grating note of supremacy. 

"What's with all the questions?" she asked quietly, staring absent-mindedly out of the window. 

"Just wondered." said Ron. 

As she continued to watch the blur of green fly past the window, the plump little witch with the sweetie-trolley came into the compartment. Refusing the confectionary, she glanced at her watch. Half-past twelve. Had an hour and a half really passed? It must have done. Watches rarely decide to lie. Unless they're wizarding watches, which occasionally stop or tell you the wrong time on purpose, just to make you miss an appointment, or just to piss you off. Watches have a twisted sense of humor. She felt someone tap her shoulder.

"We're going to arrive in Hogsmeade soon, so you better get your robes on." said Harry. The weather had changing dramatically without her noticing. It was pouring down. And she had to cross the bloody lake. 

"Do you have to sorted?" said Ron. 

"Yeah." she said gloomily. "And I have to cross that." She spat, pointing to the lake, which was being whipped up into a frenzy by the strong winds. 

"See you in the Great Hall then." he said, walking over to one of those horseless carriages. She gave a small sigh, and walked over to the tiny little boats with the First-Years. Clambering into one, she waited for the hysterical little eejits to get in as well. Some of them recognized her from the station, and refused point-blank to get in the boat with her, even though they didn't know why. When three had finally settled in the boat, she began to try to negotiate the oars. Complicated business. She managed to get them halfway across the lake, when the waves got the better of them. And the rest of the fleet. Screams arose from the boat next to her when a small boy tumbled into the turbulent water. Well, if she was going to establish a reputation in Hogwarts, she might as well be a heroine. She gave the oars to her frightened crew, and dived in. She could she see the boy now, panicking, the worst thing (even though it's the only thing) to do when you're drowning. She grabbed him and shoved him into his boat. She glanced around for her boat. _Bastards! she screamed mentally. They were nearly at the other side. She felt someone grab her arm and hoist her out of the water. She was dumped roughly into a boat and given an oar. It was the groundskeeper, Hagrid. The first years in this boat were soaked to the skin. The rain had nearly filled the boat. The weight got too great by the time they reached the far shore. The boat actually sunk when the water was still about twelve feet deep. They had to swim to rejoin the rest of the throng. She didn't mind though. The tallest first year was up to her elbow. They walked up to the castle, and were joined by who was obviously Professor McGonagall. _

"What happened them Hagrid?" she asked worriedly, looking at the all them little cold faces, and listening to the sound of collective shivering. 

"The storm happened, Professor." he said.

"They look like drowned rats." said a familiar voice behind McGonagall. Severus Snape stepped out of the shadows in the doorway. Professor McGonagall gave a small jump.

"I didn't see you there Severus." she said, her voice had that almost relieved quality of a shocked person, who realizes there was nothing to be very shocked about. 

"That was the intention." he said quietly, scanning the crowd. Daniel giggled, and his head snapped around to look at her. He always acted as though he were a supreme being, indulging himself in the company of mere mortals. "Is something amusing you?" he snapped, acting as though he didn't know her.

"Oh no, of course not, _Professor." she had a way of saying 'Professor' as though it were the worst insult on earth._

"Well, I think we had better get this lot inside before they all catch pneumonia." said Professor McGonagall briskly. Ushering the crowds inside, she said something to Snape.

(A/N: From now on, to avoid confusion, Professor Snape will be referred to as such, or just Snape. Any other Snape mentioned will, of course, be Daniel.)

He nodded, and strode off towards the Great Hall. 

"Daniel!" called McGonagall, walking quickly over to her. "You will be sorted last, separate from the first-years."

"O.k." she replied in a small voice. She wasn't exactly keen on being sorted at all. She'd be in Slytherin anyway. No question about that. 

She wasn't looking forward to mind-wrestling with that damn Sorting Hat. Who would guess that a piece of clothing a beggar wasn't fit to wear would be so bloody pompous? The doors in front of them swung open, and they filed into the Hall. The first-years walked down between the tables as though they didn't really want to be seen. Daniel  had never understood this. They were what this whole ceremony  focused around. They couldn't 'not' be noticed. She was aware of the eyes watching her, and the excited whispering between the testosterone-fuelled population of the Great Hall. Someone had the audacity to wolf-whistle. They reached the clearance where the Sorting Hat rested on a small stool. 

One by one, the first years skulked forwards to be sorted. When it came to her turn, Dumbledore stood up. 

"I would like to take this opportunity to welcome two people to the Hogwarts community." he said smiling down at her. She pleaded mentally not to mention her, even though she knew he was talking about her and Mad Eye Moody, who was sitting beside Snape. She looked more carefully at Snape. He was trying to sit as far away from the man as he possibly could without sitting on Professor Mc Gonagall. 

"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Professor Moody." he continued, Daniel clapped. Anyone who scared Snape was worthy of applause. 

"And a fourth year student who is being transferred from Durmstrang Academy, Daniel Snape." 

There was no applause. She suddenly felt very embarrassed. As the pupils began to realize what was required of them, they began to clap. More people wolf-whistled. Several members of the faculty clapped, even Snape did, but only because Moody had elbowed him in the ribs when he didn't. Professor McGonagall motioned for her to put on the Hat. She walked forwards and put it on. Almost immediately, it yelled out,

"Slytherin!"

Looking relieved, she walked down to the Slytherin table amid cheers, claps, and more wolf whistles. The only available seat was beside Draco Malfoy, which she occupied reluctantly. After Dumbledore expressed his delight at them all returning this year, the trays filled up with food. The people surrounding her immediately began bombarding her with questions, which she answered as best she could with a mouthful of chicken. She kept certain details private though, the obvious stuff. Family, address, phone number, and the location of Durmstrang (she knew of course). When dessert arrived, she simply couldn't eat any more. Having consumed almost an entire roast chicken, (she was rather addicted to chicken) and broken the wishbone with a boy across the table called Blaise Zabini, (she won, and wished there was more chicken) and then ate about four baked potatoes with various fillings, (chicken, chicken and cheese, chicken and beans and salad cream with those crispy breadcrumb things) she was stuffed, and could barely move her torso. As she watched the ice cream melt, she felt strangely empty. Stupid hyperactive metabolism. She felt hungry again. She ate a slice of Black Forest Gateaux, and then bet Malfoy ten galleons that he couldn't eat the remainder of the cake. He couldn't. It was always a satisfying feeling, getting money from a Malfoy. 


	4. Just cause you're blond doesn't mean you...

**I don't own anything related to J.K.Rowling and the characters in her books. **

**If you haven't already read it, read 'Bunkbeds' by ****Dee**** and Essy (I think that's right...)**

Walking down the long, low-slung corridor to the Slytherin Common Room, Daniel had to endure Draco's jabbering about his father and Malfoy Manor and how she _absolutely must come and visit. He didn't seem to notice that she never spoke back to him, she only nodded. The Slytherin Prefect, a tall boy with short brown hair, stated the password, 'Boa Constrictor' and strode into the Common Room. The Slytherins lacked imagination, keep guessing things related with snakes and you're bound to get there sooner or later. The Common Room smelled vaguely of peppermint drops and the smell that comes with a natural fire in a room. The fireplace was not overly elaborate, grayish stone with little snakes entwined along the mantelpiece. Huge armchairs with green leather upholstery sat in a sort of semi-circle around the fire, while smaller desks were pushed up against walls, to allow for quiet study. Following the rest of girls up to their Dormitory, she was introduced (rather formally she thought) to a girl called Pansy Parkinson. There was a brief hand shake, followed by Pansy blabbering on about how much she loved Draco, and all her 'friends' nodded in synchrony and kept saying what a shame it was that Draco didn't go steady with her. _

"He seems interested in you," she said, as though this were a crime, "but you don't like him a lot, do you?" she finished. Daniel stared at her. Did she expect an answer? 

"No. No, not really." she replied before the silence got too prolonged. "He's a smarmy git." She added. Pansy's  face fell. 

"He's..he's a _what!?" she screeched._

"He's. A. Smarmy. Git." she repeated, slower this time, in case Pansy hadn't heard her the first time. 

"How dare you!" one of her friends hissed in a deadly whisper. 

"I'm going to tell him you said that." she said triumphantly. 

"Fine. It'll save me the trouble." Daniel said smiling, before getting into bed and pulling the green velvet drapes around her, obscuring Pansy's remarkably bovine features from view. 

Four hours later, at 2o'clock in the morning, Daniel was fully dressed and was walking quietly through the long winding corridors of Hogwarts. She loved walking at night. This little excursion was merely to familiarize herself with the various trick doors and moving staircases. She wouldn't want to get lost. The moon shone through a stained glass window. A full moon. She wondered briefly where Remus Lupin was, and whether or not he was having fun. He probably wasn't. One of the many drawbacks of having a conscience. 

The colors of the stained glass seemed oddly transparent, the moonlight watering down the vibrant tones of green, red, yellow and blue.

Wandering through more empty corridors, and peering into various classrooms, she glanced at her watch, whose luminous hands informed her, quite rudely, she thought, that it was half past four. Turning back reluctantly, she traced her way back to the Slytherin Common Room. On her way there, she passed a door she knew hadn't been there before. Opening it gently, she got a quick glance of room full of toilets before someone grabbed her shoulder and twisted her around roughly. 

"What the _Hell do you think you're doing?!" Severus hissed. "Wandering around at night! What's the matter with you?!" he looked slightly psychotic, he had a horrendous case of bed hair, and part of it stuck out at a right angle to his head. Ignoring this, she replied,_

"What are you doing wandering around at night! What's the matter with _you?!" imitating his voice perfectly, something she had quite a knack for. This only served to make him madder, and he led her back to the Common Room, while lecturing her on why it was alright for him to wander around, but why she was denied this privilege. She watched him go back to wherever he spent the night, before she stepped through the hole in wall and was greeted by a tousled looking Malfoy. _

"Where were you?" he enquired sleepily. "I heard Snape ranting on about something outside the wall." he finished with a yawn, pointing towards the rapidly closing entrance. 

"I went for a walk, and he acted as though I was trying to blow the place up." she said in a disgusted voice. "Apparently, as he's a 'Professor', he's allowed to do whatever he wants. Whereas I can't even stretch my legs without being scolded." 

"Pansy told me what you said. She actually came into the boy's Dorm and told me in front of everyone that; 

'The weird new girl thinks I'm a smarmy git'." he said, the remaining humiliation sounding clear in his voice. 

"You have a hard life." she retorted sarcastically, beginning to walk back up to her Dorm. Draco stuck out a hand to stop her. 

"Did you mean it?" he asked quietly, a pathetic puppy-dog expression washing over his face, as though it caused him great pain to think of the concept of someone disliking him. 

"I did. But you'll have to prove to me that I've got the wrong impression." she said silkily, striding gracefully towards the stairs, leaving Draco standing in the middle of the Common Room, wearing a puzzled look and a pair of green pajamas with 'D.M' embroidered on the front pocket. 

Next morning, Daniel sat in the Great Hall for at least an hour chatting to Dumbledore before the first few pupils came down to breakfast. 

"I mean, the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang won't be arriving for a while yet, so I don't see why the teachers should start acting all nice." Daniel said, raising her voice slightly as Snape walked past. "Not that that bothers you."

"Severus, how nice to see you so early," said Dumbledore cheerily.

"sit down and have some toast." 

Snape took the place next to Dumbledore and moodily took a piece toast from the plate in the centre of the table. 

They sat in silence, until Dumbledore pointed at something scratched onto the surface of the table. "Did you write that, Severus?" he enquired lightly, motioning towards a small _"__Snape was here" inscribed into the dark wood. Before Snape could explain himself, the trio were joined by Draco Malfoy. Draco looked a bit shocked at seeing Dumbledore sitting at the Slytherin table, but comforted himself with a slice of toast. _

"Morning." he said glumly, looking depressed. 

"What's wrong with you?" Snape said accusingly, taking more toast. 

"Nothing." he said dismissively, not wanting to be consoled at the breakfast table. Blaise Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle wandered over to the table as well, settling beside Draco. 

"You look happy." said Blaise sarcastically. "Did Daniel keep you up all night?" Daniels head snapped around. 

"What!?" Snape and Dumbledore said in unison, staring at Draco. 

"I heard you two talking in the Common Room at about 5 O'clock in the morning." he continued, grinning at the expressions on Snape and Dumbledore's faces. 

"Why were you up at five in the morning?" Daniel queried.

"Call of nature." Blaise said shortly, pouring himself some pumpkin juice. 

"I see."

Daniel wandered down the grassy slope to Hagrid's cabin for Care of Magical Creatures class. Draco trotted up beside her. 

"Why does Blaise feel it necessary to slander our names over the school?" she asked quietly. People had shouted obscenities about the supposed antics Draco and her had got up to in the corridors. People loved a scandal. 

"What the hell are those?!" Draco was pointing towards a swarm of scorpion-like creatures milling around Hagrid's cabin. 

"Blast-Ended Skrewts." she answered simply. 

On arrival, they discovered they had to find out what the Skrewts ate. "Shouldn't be too hard." said Draco.

"Famous last words." Daniel quipped. 

The Skrewts didn't seem too hungry, in fact, they ran around evading anything the pupils tried to feed them. Daniel watched them scuttling around, making little clicking noises as their exoskeleton rubbed together. "Hagrid? You do know Skrewts eat each other?" she asked carefully. 

"Do they? Oh dear." he replied worriedly. A shriek erupted from behind them. Parvati Patil was clutching her hand, which was smoking slightly.

"It shot flame at me!" she howled, while Hagrid ran over. Daniel looked closer at one of the Skrewts. 

"Which end's which?" said a voice from her shoulder. Draco crouched beside her. She picked the Skrewt up, and held it in the crook of her elbow. The Skrewt lay there, seemingly unperturbed, until Daniel began scratching its back. It shot out of her arms and crawled over to the rest of the Skrewts. "Didn't like that." Draco said, stating the obvious. 

The bell rang up in the castle, and the pupils made their way up to lunch.

"What do we have next?" Pansy asked across the table. Pansy was still furious about Draco vying for Daniels attention even though she seemingly wasn't interested. 

"Divination." Draco replied thickly, trying to make intelligent conversation with a mouthful of potatoes. Daniel wasn't eating anything. She had had some of her _preferred food from the insulated container in her trunk, which was padlocked and had several charms on it to keep out intruders. Her thoughts were interrupted by the bell signaling the end of lunch. They followed the throng of Gryffindors up the spiraling staircase to the little silver ladder that led to Professor Trelawney's classroom. No-one moved. The smell of jasmine was wafting down from the tiny room above their heads. _

"Someone go up the ladder." whined a voice in the crowd. Daniel gave a groan and clambered up the narrow rungs. Settling at a poufee, she was quickly joined by Draco and Blaise, while Pansy stared daggers at her from across the room. "Welcome my dears." said a misty voice from the corner. Trelawney was sitting in her winged armchair trying to look strange and mysterious. "My dears, it is time for us to consider the stars. The movements of the planets and the mysterious portents they reveal only to those who understand the steps of the celestial dance. Human destiny may be deciphered by the planetary rays, which intermingle..." Daniel glanced around the room. The only people who were listening were two Gryffindor girls. Harry was looking into thin air, his eyes slightly glazed over. Suddenly, Ron poked him in the ribs and Trelawney began jabbering about the position of Saturn. She deeply hated Trelawney. Anything that resembled a grasshopper should be exterminated. They were then given a circular chart and told to fill in the positions of the planets at the moment of their birth. The timetables of planetary positions only went back 20 years. How was she expected to do this? She was born well over 100 years ago. Maybe if she multiplied everything by 5... She glanced at Professor Trelawney, and was surprised to find that Trelawney was staring at her. The teacher grinned maliciously. She knew about Daniel's history. She knew that Daniel couldn't do the chart without giving away everything. A sudden surge of rage rose in her throat.  Grabbing her bag, Daniel kicked open the trapdoor, and leapt through the hole without letting the ladder down. They heard her land lightly on the floor, and then her receding footsteps.

"Déjà vu." whispered Ron. 

"Severus, what else could I do? It was a matter of principle." 

"Really? I didn't know you had principles." 

Daniel let out a noise of exasperation. 

"You shouldn't have walked out on a teacher." he said, finishing the discussion. Daniel had went straight to him after she exited Trelawney's class. She didn't know why. Strange as it may seem, he was good person to have around sometimes. 

They walked into the Entrance Hall, and found a huge phalanx listening to Draco read out an article in the _Daily Prophet. When he had finished, he said something to Ron, who went puce with rage and had to be dragged away by Harry. Draco took this opportunity to try to curse them. A ball of light went shooting out of his wand and straight past Harry's face. A bang came from the staircase and Draco seemingly disappeared. A white ferret ran towards the dungeons, but Moody, who had emerged from the staircase, pointed his wand at it and sent it ricocheting around the corridor. Snape giggled. "Is that Malfoy?" he asked. _

"Yeah." Daniel replied, trying hard not to laugh. Snape brought out his wand and walked forward. "Don't!" Daniel hissed, "Let Moody batter him a bit more." she said, giving in to hysteria. Nearly doubled up laughing, she didn't notice the ferret scurrying towards her. It ran up the inside of her trousers and out of her sleeve and on to her shoulder. "Hey! Get off!" she yelled, trying to stop the ferret from getting inside her clothes again. Severus and Moody were laughing so hard they were almost crying. She spun around, trying to fling the ferret off her. She felt little claws dig into her shoulder. Letting out a roar of pain, she grabbed the ferret's tail and tried to pull it off. The ferret squeaked loudly and bit her shoulder hard. It dived down her robes as Professor Mc Gonagall walked through the Entrance Hall door. She promptly dropped the books she was carrying. "What's going on?!" she shouted. Snape stopped laughing immediately. "It was him!" he cried, pointing at Moody. 

"What are you doing!" she gasped.

"Teaching." Moody said simply.

"It that a student!" she shrieked, gesturing towards the ferret, which was now perched on Daniel's head.

"Yeah." he retorted, "The idiotic blond one."

She pointed her wand at the ferret, which was skittering across Daniel's shoulders, and it promptly transformed into a very rumpled Draco Malfoy. The sudden weight of an almost fully grown person on her shoulders brought both Daniel and Draco crashing to the floor. 

Her patience shattered. 

Daniel shoved Draco off her, sending him flying into the opposite wall. The noise of laughter stopped. She had thrown someone quite a bit heavier than her fifteen feet into a stone wall, and the force of impact cracked the ancient slabs. She looked furious. There were four small lines of blood on her neck where Ferret/Draco had scratched her in an effort to escape Moody. The shoulder of the shirt she wore under her robes was saturated with blood. She turned quickly on her heel and strode down the dungeon corridor. Draco was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, badly winded from the collision with the wall. Blaise helped him stand up, and McGonagall sent them to Madam Pomfrey. 

"Severus, what exactly went on here?" she asked Snape, while they were ushering the pupils into dinner. 

"Potter was insulting Malfoy's family, Minerva. Draco then defended himself against a dangerous curse cast by Weasley, and Moody thought Draco was trying to curse Potter without good reason. " he said smoothly, shifting the blame. 

"Right." said Professor Mc Gonagall, walking into the Great Hall. 

"Are you sure you're alright?" said Blaise, ignoring Pansy, who was sobbing loudly in the corner. 

"For the last time, yes." answered Draco, who was lying in one of the painfully white Hospital Beds. Madam Pomfrey had taken one look at his bruised ribs and ordered him to stay the night. "Where's Daniel at?" he asked Blaise quietly, not wanting to evoke Pansy's wrath. 

"Up in the Girl's Dorms." he responded. "She was pretty pissed Draco."  (A/N: not _drunk pissed, __very angry pissed)_

"I realized." Draco replied bluntly. "I need to talk to her."

"Why?! She nearly killed you!" 

"She didn't nearly kill me. She threw me into a wall."

"That doesn't say anything to you?" Blaise retorted.

"Just tell her I need to talk to her! That's all I'm asking! I would have done the same if I was strong enough." Draco stopped to think. "She's really strong."

"I realized." Blaise echoed. "I'll tell her, I can't promise she'll come and see you." he turned to walk out the door.

"Blaise! Get Pansy out of here!" 

Blaise rolled his eyes and ushered Pansy out of the room.

"I am not going to Madam Pomfrey." she said flatly. "And you can't make me." The stabbing pains in her shoulder wouldn't make her reconsider. 

"You're going, and that's that." he grabbed her bad shoulder and led her down the corridor. The pain eased off if she followed him voluntarily, something which she had no intention of doing. She whipped her shoulder away and the tight grasp he had ripped open the wound and almost immediately she felt her robes and shirt absorbing the blood. 

She walked the rest of the way to the Hospital Wing without complaining. He pushed open the door and had a brief word with Madam Pomfrey. "Right." she said briskly. "Let's see it then." She examined the bite quickly, and from what Daniel could see of it, the points where teeth had broken the skin, were raised and were surrounded by an angry red area. While Madam Pomfrey got the stuff to dress the wound, she sat on the edge of a bed. The curtained bed in front of her swished open.

"Hello Draco." she said stiffly. 

"What are you here for?" he asked, concerned. She showed him her shoulder. "Ouch." he said wincing. 

"How're your ribs?" she said glancing at the bandaged area of his chest. 

"Sore. I have to stay the night." he declared. Madam Pomfrey swept up the aisle accompanied by Severus, who was talking to her about the recent goings-on in the Ministry. He was carrying the stuff for her shoulder. Draco greeted him with a quiet, "Hello Professor." and he responded just as awkwardly. 

After bandages had been wrapped carefully around her shoulder, Daniel had to drink this vile orange syrupy stuff that froze her throat.  

"That'll make you drowsy." Snape said grinning. 

"You made it?!" she shrieked as best she could with no feeling in her mouth whatsoever.

"Yes. And you have to stay the night." he said in the tones of someone issuing a death sentence. "Goodnight." he said to both of them, and walked out the door. Madam Pomfrey threw her a pair of pajamas. 

"You're still going to class tomorrow, though. You'll both be better in the morning." she said, making it sound like a threat. 

 **I know this is a lot longer than the previous chapters, but that's what you guys like, right?**

**As usual, anything that you don't like, flame me. Feel free. I don't care. **

**Anything you like, say so. Please review. **

**I suppose I should have mentioned this, but this contains serious spoilers for book Four. Which, of course, is © JKRowling (who is God)**


	5. Of Serpents and Flammable Goblets

**I don't own anything related to or owned by J.K.Rowling.**

**I know you must hate being told what to do, but please review. By the way, there is a swear word/s in this that 'moral bitches' won't be in favor of. **

_'Just one note could make me choke one note that's not a lie,_

_Just one note could cut my throat one note could make me die.'_

**_Aeroplane_**

**_The Red Hot Chili Peppers_**

****

For the supposed drowsiness the potion was supposed to induce, Daniel wasn't really sleepy at all. She pulled back the curtain around her bed. Draco was lying on his better side, snoring slightly. She tried to get out of bed, but she immediately felt the wound on her shoulder split open again. _"Shit!" she hissed, and almost at once Draco was sitting bolt up­right in his bed._

"I swear I didn't do anything!" he cried sleepily, his eyes still half-closed. 

"I didn't say you did." she replied in a puzzled whisper. 

"Must've been dreaming or something." he said quietly, his face turning red.  "Where're you going?"

"For a walk." pulling open the door to the Hospital Wing, she was greeted by Madam Pomfrey wearing a dressing gown and slippers, carrying a oil lamp. 

"And where do you think you're going?" she said suspiciously. 

"She's going for a walk." answered Draco from his bed. 

"Oh no you're not. Back to bed." Daniel turned around to walk back over to her bed. "Wait, wait, you're bleeding." Madam Pomfrey said in a slightly scolding voice. She got fresh bandages from the sideboard in her office, and walked briskly back. Draco got out of bed and walked awkwardly around to Madam Pomfrey. "What're you doing?" Madam  Pomfrey asked him. 

"I want to see what all the fuss is about." he replied innocently.  When Madam Pomfrey removed the old bandages, she and Draco gave simultaneous gasps. If anything, the bite had got worse. It was very red now, and two semicircles of teeth marks were raised higher than the night before. Daniel caught a glance of it over her shoulder.

 "Oh great Malfoy, you've given me rabies." she said sarcastically. 

Madam Pomfrey looked very shocked at this. 

"You bit her?!" As she generally tended not to ask too many questions, the entire ferret episode was still new to her. After they explained, she looked happier. "Well, if you had said it was a ferret bite..." 

"Would that have made a difference?" asked Draco. 

"Oh yes, a ferret's mouth is full of diseases." she replied, grinning at him. She poked the bite thoughtfully.

"Ow." said Daniel pointedly. She fetched a bottle from her sideboard and shook it roughly. Something yelped inside the bottle. Daniel and Draco looked at each other worriedly. 

"Right." Madam Pomfrey said, about to open the bottle, "This will hurt. Stand back Draco." she moved back as well, and opened the bottle at arms length. A blob of metallic blue stuff blobbed out onto Daniel's shoulder. It quivered slightly, before splitting into ten little silvers. Each silver slithered towards a puncture mark in Daniel's shoulder, before squeezing through. She clenched her jaw. Then, the perforations began to close up, the swelling began to subside, and Draco's hand, which Daniel was squeezing to try and alleviate the pain, cracked three times. He squeaked. Madam Pomfrey tsked tsked and went to get the Skele-Grow, which was, strangely, more effective at healing bones than replacing them. 

Next morning, Madam Pomfrey woke them at seven o'clock. "Why are we up so early?" whinged Draco, squinting in the sunlight. His hand was in full working order, as well as his ribs. Daniel patted her shoulder gently. She tried craning her neck around to see the bite, but to no avail. Draco walked sleepily behind her.

"It's gone." said Draco simply, poking her shoulder. She ran her hand over her shoulder again. No pain. No little bumps.  They both pulled the curtains their respective beds and got into their robes, which Madam Pomfrey had ordered Blaise to bring up. 

"How're your ribs?" Daniel called, just loud enough so he could hear her. 

"Fine." she heard him reply, before the door of the Hospital Wing swung open. She pulled back the curtain swiftly, and walked over to get her bag, which was on a small stool by the door. Draco's curtain swished open behind her and he came over to get his bag as well. She picked it up and threw it gently at him. Catching it with a grin, he opened the door. "Where are you two going?" Snape emerged from Madam Pomfrey's office, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey. 

"Breakfast." said Daniel. "We have Potions first thing, so I don't think you'll want us to be late."

"How are you both?" he added , saying it very quickly, as if it embarrassed him.  

"Alright." Draco replied quietly.

"Yes, we're fine. Just hungry." Daniel snapped. Snape winced. She glared at him, and walked out the door. 

The Potions lesson passed without incident. Unless you counted Neville melting a cauldron and being made to disembowel a barrel of Horned Toads. After being told the Triwizard Competition was being held at Hogwarts, the entire school was buzzing with the rumors of who was entering. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang on the 30th October. Teachers withheld all information about these schools, and with most teachers, you could tell they were excited about it all too. 

Thursday, at lunchtime, the Slytherin fourth years were anticipating Mad-Eye Moody's first class. They joined the Gryffindors waiting outside his classroom. Daniel sat on the floor away from the main throng of pupils, reading the textbook on Defense Against the Dark Arts. If she knew Moody, he wouldn't use it at all. He knew more about the Dark Arts than most Death Eaters. As the bell rang, she took a seat at the front of the class, among the five lined up in front of his desk. Draco and Hermione immediately took the seats on either side of her, and Harry and Ron took the other two.

 After a pause, Moody's uneven footsteps came clunking down the corridor. Taking his place at the desk at the front of the class, he took the register and made sure everyone was there. He paused slightly on Ron's name, and again on hers. Draco avoided his magical eye, the pain of being bounced around the corridor still fresh in his mind. 

"Right." he said sharply, "Today we will be learning about the Unforgivable Curses.  Can anyone tell me the one of them?" Hermione's hand shot straight into the air, nearly taking Daniels head off. "Yes, Miss, Granger." he said, consulting his register. 

"The Imperius Curse." she said, confident in her own intelligence. 

"Ah yes. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble that one, years back. Some job, sorting out who was acting of their free will and who was being controlled. " he bent down behind his desk and lifted up a large jar. Three huge black spiders were scurrying about inside. Ron cringed slightly. He lifted one out, and pointed his wand at it. Immediately, the spider began tap-dancing, back-flipping, and running about on two legs. Nearly the entire class laughed. Draco glanced at Daniel. She was paler than normal, and was staring avidly at her table, avoiding the acrobatic arachnid. Moody, perhaps noticing this, said sternly, "Would you like it if I did it to you?" the laughter subsided quickly. Putting the spider back in the jar, he said, "Any others?"

Neville put his hand up cautiously. "Yes, Neville?" he asked, somewhat softer than before. 

"The Cruciatus Curse." he said very quietly. His magical eye flitted over Neville briefly. Reaching into the jar for another spider, he set it carefully on the desk. "Hmm. Needs to be bigger." he said, more to himself than anyone else. "Engorgio." he hissed, pointing his wand at the spider, which promptly swelled to twice it's size. Ron scooted his chair back as far as it would go. "Crucio!" The spider's legs folded in on it's body, and began twitching in a way that made everyone feel nauseous watching it. It rolled over onto it's back, and rocked from side to side. Moody's face showed no emotion. He kept his wand fixed on the spider, and it jerked more violently. 

"Stop it!" cried Hermione suddenly. Harry followed her gaze. Daniel was covering her mouth with her hand, as though she were going to be sick. Her face had turned a truly unnatural shade of white, and her eyes were shut tightly, trying to block out the spider twitching and writhing in pain on Moody's desk. Moody stopped. Lifting the spider back into the jar, he looked slightly subdued. 

"Any others?" he said, too brightly for the atmosphere in the room. Hermione raised her hand a third time. "Yes?" he asked, looking at her with both eyes. 

"Avada Kedavra." she replied quietly. Daniel looked up at Moody in quiet disbelief. Moody lifted the last spider out of the jar. Setting it on his desk, he lifted his wand and shouted, "_Avada Kedavra!" a flash of green light blinded them for a few seconds, and rush of cold air swept through the room, and when their eyes could focus properly again, the spider was lying on it's back, unmarked, but definitely dead. "The killing curse. There's no protection, and the only person who has survived it is sitting in front of me." Harry looked extremely uncomfortable. _

"Maintain CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!" he roared, making the class jump. For the rest of the lesson, they took notes on the Unforgivable Curses. The class exploded into conversation when the bell rang. The pupils were talking as though it had been some sort of circus, but Daniel didn't find it very entertaining. Neither, it seemed, did Harry. When Moody was explaining the Avada Kedavra curse, Harry had seemed miles away. Of course, she couldn't blame him.

"Did you see the spider doing the tap dance?" said Ron excitedly, his arachnophobia fading briefly.  "And when he put the Cruciatus curse on it, it started twitching and jerking around?" nothing seemed to please Ron more than seeing a spider in pain. 

"Shh Ron!" hissed Hermione, motioning up a side passage. Daniel was standing with her back leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the stone opposite. They walked up to her quietly. "Daniel?" said Hermione softly. She didn't seem to realize they were there. "Daniel?" she repeated, louder this time. Harry walked in front of her. She just stared right through him. Her eyes had the same look as Sirius' had in the Shrieking Shack. As though shutters had closed behind them, lifeless and dead. Hermione shook her shoulder gently. Daniel's head snapped round. 

"What?!" she sounded as though she had disturbed from deep thought. 

"Are you o.k.?" Ron asked her carefully. He didn't want to provoke her near a stone wall. 

"Why wouldn't I be?" she said, beginning to walk away from them. 

"Just asking." Hermione said quietly, her attention grabbed briefly as Moody and Neville walked past them to his office. 

During the next few weeks, the castle was scoured in preparation for the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Filch was becoming more and more serious about the manacles in his office, threatening everyone who didn't wipe their feet with an amateur castration. 

On the morning of the thirtieth, the excitement was palatable. 

That evening, the Heads of the Houses sorted the pupils into single file, and led them to the grassy area in front of the castle. They were organized into rows, with first-years in front. Daniel stood talking to Snape at the end of the fourth year row. "How're they getting here?" she asked him quietly. 

"Dunno. Broomsticks, maybe." he replied, surveying the starry sky. 

"From France? Maybe the train." said Draco from beside her. 

"There they are!" shouted a fifth year behind her, pointing over the forest. Indeed, a huge black shape was skimming over the tops of the trees. It landed smoothly on the lawn, and the light from the castle windows hit it. A huge powder blue carriage pulled by twelve winged horses came to a graceful stop in front of the school. The door opened, and boy in blue robes sprung out and unfolded a set of golden steps from the bottom of the door. Standing beside the door like a footman, he waited respectfully as a absolutely huge woman stepped out. She was wearing an excess of opal-studded jewelry. Dressed completely in black satin, and with shiny black hair, she looked very exotic, even though she was only from France. 

"Madame Maxime." whispered Snape. 

"She's the Headmistress, I take it?" Daniel replied. Snape nodded. 

Dumbledore greeted her and her students, and they waited patiently for Durmstrang to arrive. 

Suddenly, Lee Jordan shouted, "Look at the lake!" A huge whirlpool had begun in the centre of the lake, and a long, black mast was rising up from the depths of the murky water. Soon, the whole ship emerged, and was gliding slowly towards the bank. 

"Isn't Ivor Karkaroff the headmaster of Durmstrang?" Daniel asked Snape quietly, who made a noise of disgust in reply. She smiled. "I forgot how much you hate him." she said amiably. They watched the pupils from Durmstrang follow Karkaroff towards Dumbledore. The two headmasters shook hands and walked inside the castle. Soon, directed by the teachers, the rest of the school filed into the Great Hall. 

The teachers took their place at the top table, and Filch busied himself setting out four chairs. 

"Who else is coming?" said Draco, while motioning frantically for the Durmstrang pupils to sit at the Slytherin Table. When they did, he sat down, very pleased with himself. 

"Don't know." she said quietly, poking a big plate of slimy stuff with her fork, which promptly got sucked into it. Draco ignored her response and introduced himself to Viktor Krum. Krum wasn't listening to Draco praising the Wronksi Feint he preformed at the World Cup.

"Who is that?" he said in an almost incomprehensible accent, pointing at Daniel, whose fork had apparently dissolved into the slimy stuff. 

"Oh, " he exclaimed, taken aback that Krum hadn't been listening to a word he was saying. "That's Daniel. Daniel Snape." he replied quickly. 

"Hello Daniel." Krum said, extending his hand over the table.

"Hello." she responded dejectedly, shaking his hand briefly. 

 "Why are you so sad?" he asked, grinning slightly. Daniel frowned.  

"I hate Halloween." she replied moodily. Krum looked confused.

"Halloween?" he said slowly, pronouncing the word carefully. Draco gestured around him at the pumpkins and skeletons. 

"Excuse for Muggles to dress up as things that scare them and eat lots of sweets. Used by wizards as an excuse to get off school and work." he explained simply. Krum nodded.

"Why do you hate Halloween?" he said, proud of his extended knowledge. 

"Muggles have over-commercialized it. Halloween isn't complete without slaughtering Christians." Daniel told them wistfully. 

Draco and Krum glanced at each other worriedly. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but his gaze followed a Beauxbatons girl walking over to the Gryffindor table, and returning with a plate of bouillabaisse. Blaise shot a pea into Draco's mouth, nearly choking him. 

Krum spooned Borscht onto his plate while Daniel mutilated a croissant. Looking across the Great Hall, she observed a French Bread-Stick Fight the Weasley Twins were currently engaged in. Up at the teachers table, Dumbledore smiled and made the bread explode into crumbs, showering most of the Gryffindor table. 

"What're Mr. Crouch and Ludo Bagman doing at the Staff Table?" she asked Draco, who was alright after punching himself in the stomach. 

"Aren't they Judges?" he replied hoarsely. 

"Maybe." she said thoughtfully. "I thought the principals of the schools were Judges."

"They probably here to represent the Ministry." interrupted Blaise, shoveling Clam Chowder down his throat. "You know, with Ludo Bagman being Head Of Games and all that." 

After the last few scraps of food had disappeared from their plates, the desserts arrived on the table. Draco avoided the Chocolate Gateaux, and emptied half a bowl of purple Jelly onto his plate. Grinning at Krum's shocked expression, he began trying to eat it. Magical jelly is notoriously difficult to eat, but stabbing it with your spoon usually stops it jiggling long enough to get a few mouthfuls. There were huge flat meringues the size of plates scattered every few feet along the table. Again, the Weasley Twins took advantage of this to throw the puddings about like Frisbees. One hit the wall behind Pansy and shattered into  little sticky pieces. 

     Up on the platform beside the Staff Table, the caretaker, Argus Filch, had carried in a huge wooden casket studded with jewels. The chattering in the Hall subsided quickly. Even the teachers were staring at it with ill-disguised interest. Dumbledore stood up, and opened the casket. He lifted out a plain wooden Goblet, filled to the brim with blue flames. He began thanking Mr. Crouch and Ludo Bagman for coming and that it was an honor to have the pupils and principals of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang eating with them tonight. 

"Due to the amount of deaths in previous competitions, there will be a minimum age of seventeen placed upon entrants. To make sure no-one under that age enters, an Age Line will be placed around the Goblet of Fire. Thank you." The occupants of the Hall clapped and rose noisily to go to bed. 

"That's a bitch, that is." said Draco scowling. "I would love to be in the Triwizard Competition." Daniel looked at him patronizingly.

"Like you would last five minutes." she said smiling. Draco frowned. 

"Wonder where Durmstrang are sleeping." he asked stupidly. 

"On the roof Draco." she replied sarcastically. 

The next morning, the pupils from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had placed their names in the Goblet of Fire. Draco noticed Gryffindors crowding round Angelina, whom he presumed had entered her name. 

"Did you hear Warrington put his name in?" he informed Daniel.

"The big chunky senior?" Daniel replied in a noncommittal tone. Draco mm-hmmed a reply and went in to breakfast. The Great Hall seemed crowded, even though there were only a few extra people. The noise level had risen anyway, everyone was looking forward to the Ceremony that night, when the Champions' names will be selected from the Goblet. The folded up piece of Parchment in Daniel's pocket felt like a heavy weight. If she put her name in, and she was selected, how would she explain herself?

 Wait a minute. Daniel was a bit shocked with herself. She was thinking logically, the famous, if not infamous Daniel Snape, was considering the consequences of her actions. Grinning, she got up. Making a quick excuse involving a toilet, she walked to the door. 

Shutting it gently, she glanced around. The Entrance Hall was empty. Walking quickly over to the golden Age Line, she looked round again, and speedily leaned over to the Goblet of Fire and dropped in the parchment. Exhaling triumphantly, she walked calmly into the Great Hall and resumed her place beside Draco. 

"That was quick." he said suspiciously. She smiled at him and began drowning a piece of toast in marmalade. "Shit!" he hissed, looking at his watch, "We were supposed to be at Hagrid's ages ago!" 

"Huh? What's going on at Hagrids?" Daniel asked quizzically. 

"I need to show you something." he said quickly, getting up. Krum, hearing this, wolf-whistled. Glaring at the grinning Bulgarian, Daniel sighed in weary distaste and followed Draco out of the Hall.

Knocking sharply on the door, Draco stood back and waited. Loud footsteps echoed from inside the wooden hut. 

"I'm comin' I'm comin'!" Hagrid shouted. He opened the door. Draco suppressed a gasp. Hagrid had slicked down his hair with thick grease, and was wearing a horrible hairy brown suit with a yellow polka dotted tie. "Ah Draco! Was wonderin' when you'd show up!" Stepping aside to let them in, Draco rushed over to table and pulled out a large box with holes around the top. 

"You're going to love this." he said excitedly, taking off the lid. Walking carefully over to the table, she watched as Draco put his hand into the box and began telling whatever was in it that it "was a good boy." 

"'S a girl." said Hagrid knowledgeably. Draco promptly apologized to the occupant of the box and motioned for Daniel to come over. Looking gingerly into it, Daniel was greeted with the largest snake she'd seen in her life. Lifting it out, Hagrid let it slither about on the floor for a while, before they fed it some raw chicken. It was a violent green color, with a black diamond of scales in the centre of it's forehead. 

"Where did you get it?" she asked Hagrid, who was plucking another chicken. 

"Ask him." he replied smiling, nodding at Draco. The snake began coiling around Draco's legs like a cat. Scratching it's head, he answered, 

"It's a birthday present for my cousin Serendipity. I asked Father if he could send it here first so I could see it." Throwing the snake some more chicken, he placed a wing on the arm of the sofa he was sitting on. The snake lifted itself up and snatched it away, as though it would disappear if she didn't get it quick enough. Chucking all the feathers in the bin, Hagrid said, "Think it's maybe time to put 'er back in 'er box. A messenger'll be coming for 'er soon." 

"Someone's delivering it?" Daniel replied in surprise. It wasn't often parcels were delivered by hand. 

"Well you can't have an owl carrying it over the countryside can you?" Draco said incredulously. There was a polite knock on the door. Opening it, Hagrid handed the uniformed man the box, which was Spellotaped shut, and handed the invoice to Draco so he could sign it. Hagrid went to speak, but was interrupted by another knock on the wooden door. Making an impatient noise, Hagrid flung open the door again. 

"Oh! 'Ello 'Ermione, Ron, Harry! Thought you'd never come an' see me!" The three Gryffindors entered the hut, avoiding any comments about Hagrid's hairdo. Looks of disgust flashed over their faces when they saw Draco perched on the arm of the sofa, looking quite at home. 

"What're you doing here?!" Ron said roughly. 

"None of your business Weasley." Draco answered smoothly, standing up and advancing slightly towards him. Ron and Draco were almost the same height, but Ron was higher if he straightened his shoulders. 

"Don't be so petty." scowled Daniel from the chair beside the fire. "Neither one of you knows how to fight properly so I wouldn't try it." 

Stepping carefully away from each other, never breaking eye contact, Ron and Draco went and sat down on opposite sides of the room. 

After the tension faded slightly, they launched into a conversation of the Triwizard Tournament. 

"Did Warrington really enter his name in the Goblet?" Hermione asked Draco. 

"No. It's an unsubstantiated rumor. He said he was going to but he'd be to afraid to enter in case his name actually came out." 

"If you were old enough, would you enter?" Daniel asked Hermione, still sitting in the chair by the fire. "I mean, you'd be smart enough to tackle most of the charms and spells but I don't know if you'd be able to keep your cool running away from a dragon while trying to get the Golden Fleece, y'know what I mean?" 

"That's a Greek myth." said Hermione crossly. 

"It was also the very first Triwizard Competition." Daniel replied matter-of-factly. "Course, there wasn't really all the Argonauts or the warriors that grew from dragon teeth. Just a very scared Jason. The Greek **(A:N/or should it be Grecian?) Ministry of Magic made up the Argonauts and the Sirens and stuff to try and conceal the fact that wizards were roaming the streets of Athens. When Perseus had to go and get the Gorgon Medusa's head, that was one of the more sadistic Triwizard tasks. He succeeded, of course, but the whole rigmarole with the Invisibility Helmet and the shield and the Winged sandals was trying to cover up the fact that he had his wand with him the entire time, and King Polydectes wanting to marry his mother was trying to justify Perseus wandering off into the distance and coming back with a big snakey head. " she finished. **

"What happened to the other to competitors?" asked Draco astonished. 

"You've seen the two statues outside the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room haven't you? The Greek soldiers? Ever wonder why they look slightly surprised?" she replied with an evil little smirk.

"The Gorgon turned them into stone?" Ron exclaimed. Daniel nodded. 

Glancing at his watch again, Draco stood up pointedly. "I'd better be going." 

"Have you somewhere to be?" Daniel said, also standing up. 

"Yeah. That Transfiguration essay McGonagall gave us."

"You haven't started that yet?!" said Hermione in shock. But of course, Hermione had every essay finished within a few hours of being assigned it.

"I have _started it Granger, but I need to fine-tune it a bit." Draco snapped._

"As well as finish it." Daniel smirked from behind him. He turned on his heel and swept out of the room. "See you." Daniel said generally, and followed Draco up to the castle. 

Entering the Great Hall an hour later, Daniel didn't think she'd ever seen it so clean. Nearly every member of staff was meticulously cleaning every inch of the varnished wood. Even Severus was standing on a chair with a yellow cloth energetically dusting the complex mahogany engravings above the Main Door. Staring at him silently for a while, she refrained from passing comment on the thick layer of dust that had settled on his shoulders as it was removed from the doorframe. 

"Y'know, when you're cleaning, you don't remove dirt. You just rearrange it." she said jovially. He ignored her for a few minutes, before replying.

"Doesn't mean you can't make an effort." he said huffily, getting down from his precarious position on the chair. He stood back to admire the dark wood, which was now gleaming dully. Daniel coughed and gestured at his shoulders. 

"Oh bugger." he cursed, sweeping the dust dramatically off himself . Despite his general appearance, Severus was quite vain. He never went out of his way, image-wise, but it's not as if there's anyone to show off to in Hogwarts. Daniel grinned mentally. If any of the pupils seen him out in the street, they wouldn't recognize him at all. Even she had a hard time picturing him in his normal clothes. He conjured a stepladder so he could clean the one the three chandeliers hanging along the back of the Hall. Holding it steady for him, she handed him a tin of polish. 

"When's the ceremony starting?" she called up at him. 

"Uh, in a few hours." he replied awkwardly, as he tried to balance on the stepladder while holding a tin of Brasso and trying not to catch his robes on fire. A few feet away from them, Professors Sinistra and Flitwick were cleaning the other two. Flitwick was hovering beside the second chandelier, his excess of wispy white hair singed in several places. Daniel was being repeatedly pelted with dried candle wax from the chandelier Severus was cleaning, and she got the distinct impression he was doing it on purpose. Ceasing the bombardment with a violent lurch of the ladder she was holding, she left him to his cleaning and returned to the Slytherin Dormitory to get changed for the Announcement of the Champions that night. 

Entering the Common Room, she was greeted with an almost overpowering smell of sickly perfume mixed with cheap cologne. Holding her breath, she skirted around the clumps of pupils dressed in their nicest robes and ran up to the girl's Dormitory. Pansy and her entourage were chirpily discussing make-up and boys. Making a frustrated grunting noise, Pansy stood up.

"Daniel, do you have any eye shadow?" she whined, holding an empty box. Inclining an eyebrow, Daniel ignored her and began to get ready. Dragging a brush through her hair, she tried to block out Pansy recounting her first encounter with Draco. 

When she pulled the curtains of the four poster open again, Daniel tried to force the laughter back down her throat. Pansy looked like a panda. A very ugly, pug faced Panda with a inch of foundation on. Her mascara was making her eyelashes clump together and the only eyeshadow she could find was bright purple and made her look as if she had been punched in both eyes. She was now applying generous amounts of blue lipstick and frosted pink nail-varnish. Her hair was arranged in a strange sort of knot at the base of her skull.

"What do you think?" she said, obviously expecting positive comment. 

"Hmm. Who taught you about make up Pansy?" Daniel asked carefully.

"I learned myself." she said smiling. There was lipstick all over her teeth. Running a hand through her hair, Daniel pulled out the only item of make-up she owned. A well-used black lipstick. Putting it on delicately, she straightened her robes and walked down to the Common Room. 

                 Draco was waiting for her. Well, not waiting _for her. Just to see her. He found out quickly he couldn't get through the day without 'accidentally' brushing up against her in the corridor coming out of class, or seeing her without her seeing him, so he could stare as long as he wanted without being asked what the hell he was doing. Footsteps were coming down the stairs. He cursed. Just Blaise. Wait..._

She was behind him. She was wearing black lipstick. It was the kind of thing that would suit only her. Her nails were painted black as well. A silver necklace with an ebony pendant fell over the top of her robes. She knew nail varnish and lipstick were forbidden except for weekends. Pansy waddled down behind her. Draco choked on his musings and laughed as she tried to negotiate the stairs in ridiculously high heels. They had to be at least six inches. He hazarded a glance at Daniel's shoes. Her robes covered most of them, but they a steel cap at the front, and the lace went through a hole in the heel and fastened at the other side. She lifted her robes slightly to scratch her leg where the top of the boots were rubbing against them. Six or seven little buckles ran up the leg of the boots, which ended just below her knee. Dropping her robes again, she strode over to a chair by the fireplace, where a plethora of senior boys tried to chat her up.

Slouching back in his chair in frustration. He ignored the colorful presence of Pansy hovering beside him. 

"What do you want?" he asked moodily. She gestured towards her make-up. "What?" he said, confused. 

"What do you think?" she said, as though this was the obvious answer. 

"Hmm." he said vaguely. People began standing up. Draco skirted around Pansy and stood beside Daniel. She glanced at him strangely. 

"Are you going to escort me to the Ceremony?" she said, with a trace of a smile. 

"If you want." acting as though it wasn't his intention all along. Linking arms with her, he ignored he threats of the seniors who were chatting her up a while ago. He grinned smugly at them and walked on. 

"Nice robes." she commented quietly. They had been told to shut up by Snape, who was leading them to the Great Hall in 'a nice, orderly fashion'. 

"Got them in Venice last year." he whispered. "Family holiday."

"I can imagine how fun that would be." she replied condescendingly. 

"God, it was so boring. You can't imagine how many parties we had to go to with Father's friends. And even then they were all black-tie affairs, with people trying to hook me up with their daughters." he said, as though the thought exhausted him. Snape hissed at them to shut up from the top of the line. All the First Years were looking nervously at each other, uncomfortable in their best robes. They walked up the stairs to the Entrance Hall, and joined the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. All of the Houses were lined up in class order. The Slytherins were quickly moved into their lines. Daniel was getting funny looks from the majority of the school, and Mc Gonagall tutted disapprovingly. She asked Snape something, and he noticed the get-up Daniel was in. He said something to McGonagall and began to walk towards her. The doors of the Great Hall swung open before he could do anything. He had to get back to the start of the line and lead the Slytherins into the Hall. Giving her a look of bloody revenge, he walked in with the other Heads of the Houses. 

The Great Hall was looking like new. The wood shone and the decorations did justice to the enormity of the occasion. The pupils stared stupefied at the cleanliness and Snape looked smug. 

The feast was finished in record time. The pupils started looking at Dumbledore's plate. It was empty. He nodded at the rest of the teachers. The plates vanished and the lights dimmed. The only light in the room was the Goblet of Fire. 

The tension in the room was almost unbearable. Dumbledore got up and walked over to the Goblet. Red sparks flew out of it and a piece of paper shot into the air. He caught it automatically. 

"The champion for Beauxbatons," he paused dramatically, "Is Fleur Delacour!"

Shrieks of disappointment did nothing to disguise the cheers of joy from the rest of the Hall. Fleur walked proudly up to the staff table, and into the side chamber. 

Dumbledore took the next piece of paper. Never before had silence seemed so noisy. "The champion for Durmstrang, is Viktor Krum!" 

One of the Bulgarians, Poliakoff, punched the table angrily. Krum skulked up to the side chamber, wincing from the noise his fans were making. Someone threw a bra at him. He jumped away from it as if it was a grenade. Jogging the rest of the way to the side chamber, he paused only briefly to shake his headmaster's hand. 

The Hall silenced quicker than it had done before. The teachers looked at Dumbledore, who had the piece of paper held tightly in his hand. All heads were turned to the top of the Hall. "The champion for Hogwarts is," again he paused. All four tables were bracing themselves to jump up and cheer for their champion. The Heads of the Houses had never looked so nervous. Mc Gonagall's hands were shaking.  Snape was biting his thumb. Flitwick was trembling so much he was a blur. Sprout was looking calm and composed, but a small reservoir of drool was collecting silently down the front of her robes. 

"The champion for Hogwarts is," he repeated, "is Daniel Snape."

A small explosion of noise nearly deafened the rest of the Hall. Every Slytherin was screaming and shouting. She tried several times to walk to the top of the Hall, but people kept hugging her and holding her back. When she finally got loose, she was able to see clearly the look of shock and resentment on the look of every other pupil in Hogwarts. Gryffindors especially. Ignoring them, she saw Mad-Eye Moody was joining the still-clapping Slytherins. The Slytherins didn't care whether or not their Champion was underage, so long as they had a champion. 

She sidled into the side-chamber, and was greeted with a surprised Bulgarian exclamation, which she assumed to be; "Holy Shit!" 

She settled herself in a chair by the fire, and listened to the lack of noise coming from the Hall. Fleur was staring at the flames, apparently mesmerized. 

"Aren't you too young?" said Krum moodily. He was standing too close to the fire. He moved away from it slowly, still staring at her. 

"You don't know what age I am." she said simply, and turned to the door, which had been opened again. 

"Harry?!" He looked really nervous. Scared, even. His face was the color of milk. 

"Do we have to go back into the Hall?" asked Fleur innocently.

**(A/N: I could not be arsed doing the accents. So I won't.)**

Daniel snorted. "He's a champion." 

"Hogwart's cannot have two Champions!" she screeched. The door swung open again. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Mme. Maxime, Ivor Karkaroff, Mad-Eye Moody, Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch came into the room. Fleur immediately went over to her Headmistress and they began conversing in hurried French. Several times Fleur pointed to Daniel, who got angrier as she continued. Then Fleur said something everyone knew was an insult, and both Snapes began shouting at Fleur and Madame Maxime in the same tones of incomprehensible French.

**(A/N: I'm a firm believer in the 'Snape is French' ideology.)**

 Harry watched his Potions teacher get angrier and angrier shrieking at Madame Maxime and at his rival Champion, who was on the verge of snapping Fleur's thin neck. Dumbledore and Karkaroff broke them

up, and tried to calm them down. Snape crossed his arms and looked sarcastically at Mme. Maxime, daring her to retaliate. Dumbledore and the two other Principals quickly engaged in an argument about the two Hogwart's champions. Snape interrupted several times about how it was all Harry's fault. But, when no-one paid any attention to him, he shut up and sulked. 

"She thinks we're married." whispered Daniel, while Moody scolded Karkaroff. 

"Who?" hissed Snape.

"Fleur." she replied happily. "She's that thick."

"Dumb blonde." he answered giggling. 

"I'd never marry you." she said cheerfully. "You're too particular."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said, mock offended. 

"You don't like toast if it's more than half an inch thick, so you carry a ruler about with you to measure it." 

"Yeah, and like I'd marry you." he sneered. "_'Do this, do that'. That's all I'd ever hear. You'd be the kind of person who'd with-hold sex if I didn't do your every bidding."_

"Rightly so." said Krum, who'd been listening the entire time. Snape glared at the chuckling foreigner.  Madame Maxime strode out the door, followed by Fleur, who shot a dirty look at Daniel. Snape saw it and yelled an insult at her out the door. Krum went back to the ship with Karkaroff, and the rest went off for their nightcap with Dumbledore. Snape, Harry and Daniel wandered out into the Hall. She could feel the animosity generating off the persons accompanying her to the Entrance Hall.  Harry quickly departed, not wanting to be left in the company of two Slytherins, one of whom he'd be competing against in a famous Wizarding Competition. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Snape quietly, aware of the invisible presence of the school ghosts. 

"Tell you what?" she replied in her normal voice, which seemed far too loud for the echoing dungeon corridors. 

"That you entered the Tournament." he clarified, watching Peeves somersault his way along the ceiling. 

"I didn't think it important to tell you. I might not have been picked and then it wouldn't matter." He had no reply to this. Snape turned left at a fork in the corridor, and she turned right to go to the Common Room. She stopped at the entrance to the Common Room. The muffled sound of laughter and general party noises coming through the stone wall was eerie to say the least, and suddenly, the last thing she wanted was to have to be cheerful and grateful and to make a big deal out of something she knew she shouldn't have. Sighing wearily, she returned to the Entrance Hall. Opening the heavy doors, she ignored Peeves' threats about telling the Bloody Baron, and walked down towards the lake. 

            It looked like a big sequin, glittering underneath the moon. The only disturbance was the squid catching bats skimming above the surface. Sitting on the grass, thinking deeply, she didn't notice him coming up behind her. She jumped slightly when he sat down with a quiet hello. He put an arm around her. 

They filled each other in on what had been going on during the past months, and shocked each other when they realised it had been over fifteen years since they had said goodbye. 

**Please review. My hands hurt too much to write any more. **


	6. Aphetamines for boys

**I still can't believe Ch.5 is out of the way for good. My hands keep cramping. Ch.6 _should be shorter. I hope it turns out shorter. I might do up to the First Task, or the Yule Ball, but I have to think about it._**

**You know in the first movie when Snape bangs through the door? Doesn't he look like Zorro?**

Jogging as silently as she could, Daniel returned to the Slytherin Common Room in the early hours of the morning. Stepping over the unconscious forms of her classmates, she found Draco lying slumped in an armchair with a crepe hat perched awkwardly on his head. Climbing up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, she found a senior boy sleeping in her bed, surrounded by what she hoped wasn't a bodily fluid.

The Great Hall was empty. Sitting at the Slytherin table, she knocked sharply on her plate. A single piece of toast appeared in front of her. Eating it moodily, she waited for the rest of the school to make an appearance.

Draco didn't seem to mind that she didn't show up for her own party. In fact, he admitted he couldn't remember most of the night anyway. Apparently, the senior she had found sleeping in her bed had procured some poteen, which in Draco's opinion, was like rocket fuel.

The entire common room had had at least two glasses of the stuff, the result of which was they were all intoxicated by midnight.

The Slytherins spent the majority of Sunday nursing their hangovers. Never had the Common Room been so quiet, any sound, no matter how quiet, felt like rocks dropping on their heads.  Daniel retired to her bed, which had been cleaned up by the house elves. Finishing off some homework for the next day, she wondered if Harry was having as much fun.

The next morning, the Slytherins were walking down the slope towards Hagrid's cabin. Draco wasted no time in making fun of Harry, but when the skrewts were brought out, along with leashes, the smirk that had plastered itself on Draco's features disappeared.

Within minutes, the class were covered in mud, burns and grass. The skrewts kept exploding at flying forward, pulling their walkers along the ground. Daniel had solved this predicament by digging her heels into the ground, and managed to stay upright long enough to see Harry and Hagrid engaged in conversation, before her skrewt blew up suddenly and caught her off guard. She ended up in the mud with the rest of the class. A muddy person whom she identified as Draco was shaking his head sharply trying to get rid of the all the muck.

"I don't think that's going to work." she said after a while.

It wasn't so bad being champion, thought Daniel. People moved out of her way in corridors, juniors offered her a seat at the Slytherin table, providing, of course, that Draco hadn't already saved her a seat. Harry seemed depressed about it all. Severus had told her about the Chamber of Secrets fiasco. It wasn't much different from that, but Ron and Harry weren't friends anymore, and the pained expressions on their faces during class were enough to suggest they were both too proud to say sorry.

A few days later, the Slytherins were waiting outside the Potions classroom. Malfoy was handing out badges saying, "Support Cedric Diggory, the REAL Hogwarts Champion". Daniel politely declined and tried to look interested when Malfoy showed her the alternative message. ('Potter Stinks', for those of you who've forgotten.)

He ordered them to shut up when the Gryffindors approached.

"Like them Potter?" Draco shouted mockingly, flashing 'Potter Stinks'

around the corridor. He offered one to Hermione, but snatched it away when she reached for it. Draco was apparently unable of seeing Hermione without making a 'mudblood' joke. Ron and Harry immediately jumped to her defense, and a slagging match ensued. Hermione looked at Daniel, and smiled gratefully when she saw that at least one Slytherin wasn't wearing a badge. "He's a poof." she mouthed over Draco's shoulder. Hermione giggled, and then got hit in the teeth with a spell gone awry. Goyle stumbled about clutching his face, roaring in pain. Prof. Snape took that opportunity to come down the corridor, staring at the scene with a 'what have those bloody Gryffindors done now' look. He sent Goyle to the Hospital wing, with Crabbe to accompany him. He was less sympathetic to Hermione, however. "I see no difference." he announced coldly, and ushered the Slytherins into the classroom. Hermione ran off in tears. Punching him in the kidney, Daniel ran after her.

A head poked around the door to the Hospital Wing. "Can Daniel Snape come down to the Wand-Weighing Ceremony?" squeaked an obviously excited Colin Creevy. Leaving Hermione sobbing in a chair beside the door, Daniel followed the hyperactive Third Year to a classroom she hadn't been in before. The other champions were sitting on chairs. Except Harry. Maybe Colin was away to get him from Potions. She sat for 15 minutes before Harry was dragged through the door by Rita Skeeter, who was followed by Dumbledore. Rita caught a glance of Daniel, and gasped. Standing up to let Dumbledore have a seat, Daniel eyed the fluorescent reporter wrathfully. Rita set up the Quick Quotes Quill, and Daniel watched it skitter across the page as Rita whispered to it. Occasionally, Rita looked up at the Champions, and continued to dictate to the Quill skating across the parchment. Harry stood beside her.

"I brought your bag from potions." he whispered quietly.

"Thanks." She replied, still watching Rita. "Is Snape mad at you?"

"Ron and me are in detention. After you left we started shouting at him in the corridor and now we have pickle rats brains."

"Too bad." Daniel said without much enthusiasm. "Hermione's upset, you know. Understandable I suppose. You wouldn't expect a teacher to come out with something that callous. Even Snape. She could report him to Dumbledore and get his pay docked," at this she smiled, imagining Severus having to live of beans over the summer. "but Madam Pomfrey shrunk her teeth, and she's o.k. now."

Before Mr. Ollivander checked the wands, Ludo Bagman gave a short explanation of what he would be checking for. Fleur was first, and Mr. Ollivander nodded encouragingly, inspecting the wand closely for cracks. When satisfied, he shot flowers out of it and gave them to Fleur with a short bow. Cedric and Harry's wands was given more attention than Krum's, probably as Ollivander had made both of theirs. Daniel's wand had been made by Tikiro Hosikai, the Japanese equivalent of Mr. Ollivander. Finally, after a long inspection, he made a gerbil fly out of it and explode into a shower of golden stars before he was satisfied. 

                         "Right. Photographs." said the man sitting beside Rita. Harry gave her a frightened look from the other side of Madame Maxime, and reluctantly moving into position. 

                         Dinner at the Slytherin table was a solemn affair. Draco told her what she missed from potions, but she knew it anyway. "Are you worried about Tuesday?" asked Draco, surprisingly kindly. 

"Suppose I should be. God knows what the judges've got planned. Bet you a tenner it's a great big monster. Something really depraved like that. Or an obstacle course. Or both." Daniel couldn't hear her voice quavering as she rambled to Draco about it. 

The corridors of Hogwarts were a bit eerie at night time. Strolling slowly back to the Slytherin Common Room, after a few hours of studying for the First Task in the library. Just going over spells, charms and curses, which could help her fight the unknown. Pausing at a window, scanning over the moonlit countryside. The lake looked like ink. A small figure was sprinting over the grounds, following two huge silhouettes. It was keeping a good bit behind them, obviously not wanting to be seen. Quelling her curiosity, Daniel descended the stairs and entered the Common Room. No-one was there. Completely empty, the cold stone room felt like a tomb. 

Climbing into bed, it took a while for her to fall asleep through the loud snorting noises Pansy frequently made in her sleep.****

The tension in the school built up to an unbearable air of controlled hysteria the weekend and Monday before the first task. The champions were the brunt of many taunts from their rivals' supporters, and hearty, "I know you'll do well!" from their classmates. 

On Monday night, Daniel sat in the Slytherin common room until the small hours of the night talking to Draco. He was convinced she'd do well. 

"You know what the task is yet?" Draco asked, trying to steer her attention away from the weird stain on the carpet she seemed so engrossed in. 

"No. Harry looks terrified. Maybe we have to fight a troll. Or fight each other." she smiled. "I'd win that."

The Great Hall was almost completely silent the next morning. Everyone was so excited they could barely speak. The teachers were silent also. Dumbledore was talking somberly to Madame Maxime, both of whom looked very worried about something. 

Krum, Fleur and Harry were white as sheets. Hermione was talking encouragingly to Harry, while Ron gazed at his plate. There was a mass turning of heads as Mc Gonagall, Karkaroff, Mme. Maxime and Snape stepped down from the teachers table. 

"Come on. You have to go now." said Snape quickly and he followed the other teachers and champions down to the tent beside a huge arena, that had presumably been erected overnight.

Ludo Bagman and Mr. Crouch were there. Ludo was obviously excited, while Crouch remained calm and steady. He explained to the champions about the task, revealing only that they had to get the Golden Egg. Daniel noticed the other champions paling slightly. 

They knew something. 

Severus wished her an embarrassed 'good luck', and strode haughtily out of the tent.  Ludo held out a small velvet bag, and said excitedly, 

"Ladies first." Fleur extended her hand and picked out a perfect little dragon. Daniel nearly had a heart attack. 

"Dragons?" she whispered dazedly. Harry gave her a "you didn't know?" look, and took out his dragon. Krum chose a little red one with lots of spikes, and when she got her turn, Daniel picked the one with great big horns and huge teeth. 

While they waited for the whistle, (Fleur was going first), Daniel let her dragon run around chasing a beetle. 

"You really didn't know?" said Harry beside her. Daniel shook her head. "None of us knew until about, three days ago, I think." 

"Doesn't really make me feel any better." Her dragon began digging little holes in the dirt near her feet. Picking it up gently, she watched it run in circles on her lap, chasing it's spiny tail. It blew little tongues of flame into the air, singing her robes. Stretching it's wings, it flew around her head a few times, before landing awkwardly in the crook of her elbow and settling down for a nap. "Cute, isn't it." she said affectionately, scratching it's head. "I think I'll call it Alan. That suits it, don't you think?"

"Yeah, suppose. I might call mine.." the whistle blew from the stadium. A loud voice announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Fleur Delacour!" Fleur walked shakily out of the tent. Her dragon squeaked miserably and tried to fly after her, but the thick canvas defeated it. Going over and picking it up, Daniel tried to keep the two dragons in her care apart, but was burnt for her trouble. Picking up Alan protectively, she nudged Fleur's dragon away with her shoe, but the little bugger started biting her foot. Ignoring it, Harry, Krum and Daniel listened to the sounds of the crowd. With every cheer or groan from the audience, her stomach seemed to implode. Bagman's depressing commentary wasn't much better. Finally, there was a huge cheer, and the loud voice saying again, "Fleur's done it Ladies and Gentlemen!"

"What dragon did Fleur have?" asked Harry. 

"A Welsh Green."

"What dragon does Krum have?"

"A Chinese Fireball."

"What dragon do I have?"

"A Swedish Short Snout."

"What dragon do you have?"

"A Hungarian Horntail."

"That's the bad one."

"I know."

Ludo announced Krum's name, and a cheer sounded as the sulky Bulgarian walked into the enclosure.

"Oooh, very narrow there. He'll have to be more careful if he wants to stay alive!" yelled Bagman over the roaring crowd.

"Have you got a plan?" asked Harry. Daniel giggled.

"I'm trying to think of one. " There was a pause. "Do you have a plan?"

"Sort of." 

They waited in silence for the inevitable.

The crowd screamed and cheered and gasped theatrically. It reminded Daniel of a pantomime. 

_"It's behind you! Too late, you've been cremated. NEXT!"_

The crowd erupted into applause. "Good luck." she said shakily as Harry walked out to the enclosure. Desperately trying to formulate a plan with what was left of her mind. Most of it had been shredded by thoughts of dragons and fire and big fucking teeth. Fleur and Krum's dragons were still fighting in the dust. Alan was curled up on her knee. He was only about the size of a big hamster. A fire-breathing flying hamster with scales.  

The crowd were shrieking and cheering more than ever. Harry must have had a plan after all. Bagman was praising him wildly. "Good move!" The final cheer came far quicker than any of the others. 

"That's going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!" Bagman yelled. 

Daniel's stomach seemed to tighten. She stood up and prepared for the task ahead of her. Alan scurried up her trouser leg and perched happily on her shoulder. 

"You want to come?" Something clicked in Daniel's brain. stuffing the tiny reptile into her pocket, she waited for Bagman to announce her. 

"Daniel Snape!" he screeched into the warm autumn air.

Her legs wouldn't work. Slapping herself mentally, she breathed deeply and walked briskly into the enclosure. 

The Horntail lay curled up at the other end. It's clutch of eggs lying protected in the curve of it's tail. The crowd stopped clapping and sat in icy silence, awaiting her plan. Walking forward a few paces, she settled her raw nerves and thought of a spell with a bit of range. 

"Notticus!" she barked sharply, her wand pointed straight at the dragon. A volley of arrows shot out the tip of the wand and right to the dragon's spiny head. Arrows were, of course, harmless against it, but it was enough of a distraction to get it to open it's eyes. Yellow flashed from under it's eyelids and the Horntail raised it's head and snarled. 

Daniel started walking forward toward the dragon until she was in the centre of the arena. A murmur rippled through the crowd. Standing on all four legs, the Horntail looked pissed. It's top lip curled back.

She was well within firing range.

Opening it's mouth, the yellow teeth of the Horntail were nearly the height of Daniel herself. "Aqueous!" she screamed, and a jet of water shot straight into the Horntail's throat. Roaring in anger, the Horntail tried again, smoke furling out of it's nostrils. The second the flames started, she threw herself to one side. She wasn't quick enough. The tail end of her robes smoldered. Pulling them off, she watched them disintegrate as the Horntail caught her off guard again. The crowd shrieked, and she caught a glimpse of Malfoy clutching his face with both hands as she dodged the third flume of scorching fire. The Horntail paused slightly to turn around properly. Pulling Alan out of her pocket, she threw him about ten or twelve feet away from her, and roared, "Engorgio!" Alan swelled to the size of a large horse, and then to the size of an elephant, and finally, nearly as big as the Horntail herself. The two dragons glared at each other, and the Horntail's eyes flashed angrily, and made a lunge for Alan's neck. He retaliated, and soon they were both airborne, divebombing each other ferociously. Sprinting forward, Daniel reached for the golden egg. The crowd were shouting and screaming, but suddenly went silent. Daniel looked up. The Horntail had gotten her fearsome teeth around Alan's neck, and he was screaming in pain. She made a final crunch through his spine, and he fell heavily to the ground. As he was merely a conjured dragon, he dissolved into the ground, soon replaced by a very angry Horntail. Daniel already had the golden egg, but the Horntail was advancing slowly, head low to the ground and swinging slightly from side to side. Her yellow eyes and teeth were fixed on Daniel. The wizards who took care of the dragons came rushing into the enclosure behind the Horntail. Firing spells at her, she spun around quickly for an animal her size, and the last thing Daniel seen before everything went black, was a huge, muscular, spiky tail swinging right at her. 

The crowd didn't stop screaming for a long time. 

**Ha. I'm stopping now. **

**This chapter was fuelled by Red Bull, Columbian coffee, Rammstein and Marilyn Manson. I'd like to thank them for keeping me alive these past few months. **

**The next Harry Potter book is out on June 21st!!!!! **

**If Snape is the "surprising death", I'll die. I will. I'll just die.**


	7. The Hazards of Dating

**I realize now the mistake I made in chapter 6. Cedric is not a champion, at least, in this story, but I was consulting the book to get the facts rights and ended up messing the whole thing up.**

**If you haven't already read my bio, please do. I need feedback on something.  Sorry for the delay with this chapter, but my computer died and had to be defibrillated back to life. **

**I now have Windows 95…**

**If the changing font gets annoying, tell me and I'll fix it.**

** I've just realized that I'm writing this story as if it was happening now, in the year 2003, instead of sometime in the 80's, which is when the story is reputed to have been set originally. **

There are a few expletives contained in the following chapter. If you are hyper conservative, and don't like words like shit or bitch, I would advise you not to read this or any following chapters. There are, of course, some really mild sexual references, because I'm crap at writing smut. I tried once. Never again….

The hospital wing was cordoned off from the prying eyes of the school. The curtains were up at the windows and the screen was around Daniel's bed. After she was hit with the dragons tail, Daniel had went flying into the cement wall of the enclosure, breaking, according to Madame Pomfrey, both shoulder blades, her right kneecap, her left forearm and the majority of her ribs. Her bones had been mended, of course, but she lapsed into a deep unconsciousness after Severus had slapped her jovially on the back of her head and said cheerfully, 

"There! You're all right now aren't you!"  Which she responded to by slumping back onto the hospital bed. 

**"Her breathings gone funny again."**

_"I think you'd be breathing funny if all of your ribs were broken."_

**"Shut up dog boy."**

Krum was lying in a bed at the other end of the Hospital Wing, one half of his face stinging from a serious burn.

Every champion had got hurt in one way or another. Fleur had half her hair burned off, and managed to break her hand somehow. Harry, apparently, had a broomstick involved in the whole thing, and fell off it in an attempt at the golden egg. 

_"Make me." _

**"Why are you here anyway? It's not as if you care."**

_"Oh yeah, and you were always there for her."_

**"You know the circumstances."**

_"Doesn't matter. Family should stick up for each other." _

**"It was her decision."**

_"You didn't have to go along with it. You could have confessed."_

**"What? And have the both of us stuck in Azkaban? That would've been really clever now, wouldn't it?"**

_"I think you'd have liked Azkaban. I mean, apart from the Dementors, and the food, it wasn't really that bad."_

**"What about the psychological trauma?"**

_"Well there's that."_

**"There is."**

Both parties had run out of things to say. They couldn't argue. It didn't feel right in the presence of an unconscious loved one. 

Madam Pomfrey caused a temporary disturbance by peeling the orange goo off of Krum's face, and replacing it with fresh goo. 

_"She was really lonely in there, you know. Sent you piles of letters. And you still never bothered to confess."_

**"She said in the letters that she didn't want me to confess."**

_"Doesn't matter. She's your family. You should stick together."_

**"Yeah. You two stuck together all right though, didn't you?"**

_"We were lonely. You've no idea what it was like being stuck in the same room all day every day for thirteen years!"_

**"So did it start off as a way to pass the time?"**

_"Shut it!"_

The curtains flew open with a whoosh. 

"If you two don't care enough about poor Daniel to keep your voices down I shall have to remove you!" hissed Madam Pomfrey menacingly. 

The arch nemeses' stood up respectfully when Dumbledore appeared at Madame Pomfrey's shoulder. 

"How is she Polly?" he asked concernedly. 

"She'll be alright Professor. It's Krum I'm worried about. He's not so good. All she needs is some rest." she finished scathingly, staring at Daniel's visitors with a meaningful glare. Walking off, she muttered something about dragons and dementors and what the world was coming to before she slammed her office door. (Quite the hypocrite)

"You can sit down now." Dumbledore said kindly, looking worriedly at Sirius and Severus, both of who looked anxious and tired. "You heard what Polly said. She'll be fine." 

Sirius' head drooped. 

Snape was worried, of course. But he didn't show it. 

Both were stung from what they had been accused of. 

"Severus, I think maybe you should go and sleep for a few hours. You too Sirius. I hope to see you soon." Snape got up and strode out the door, slamming it behind him. 

"He's really worried." Sirius said unnecessarily, before transfiguring into the huge black dog and leaving the Hospital Wing. 

Getting up, Dumbledore drew the curtains again. 

"You can get up now." he said kindly to the uncomfortable form of Daniel Snape. Sitting up stiffly, she poked at the bandage around her head. 

"They go on for a bit don't they?" she hissed angrily. Listening to the two most important men in her life argue over her while she was supposedly at deaths door hadn't put her in the best of moods.  

"When they don't know what to say to each other, they fight." Dumbledore explained. 

"But arguing about me when I'm in the room! That's a new low for both of them."

"They're worried about you. And they thought you were unconscious."

"There's no need. I'm alright."  She stated unconvincingly, as a door slammed and pain ricocheted around her skull. The curtains flew open again and a worried looking Minister Fudge waddled up to Dumbledore.  

"Dumbledore, I'm rather concerned about the relations with the foreign schools after this little, um, unfortunate incident."

"Cornelius, I have spoken at length with Madame Maxime and Ivor and they both understand that this is all part of the Tournament and Hogwarts nor the Minsitry is in any way responsible." Dumbledore explained slowly.

"Oh. Well. That's good then." he stuttered quickly. "Daniel," he chirped, "You have no misgivings, do you?"

"No…I'm perfectly alright with this excruciating pain thank you very much." She snarled, clutching her head. 

"Oh. O.k. Afternoon Dumbledore!" he said happily, letting the sarcasm run over his head. 

"Malfoy you little shite! Where have you put my Golden Egg!?"

"I haven't touched your stupid egg!" the blonde screeched back, emerging from the showers with a strange look on his face. Stalking up to him, Daniel dug her nails into his side.

"If you don't tell me where you put my egg I'll do this," she dug her nails in further "on the one place you _really wouldn't want this done."_

"I don't think you'd do that." He sneered happily. "In fact, I don't think you could do that." 

"Really? You don't?" she growled, plunging her hand down his towel. Something clunked. Pulling her egg out of his groin wasn't the highlight of her day. Neither was pulling little blond hairs from the groove encircling it.

The next few days passed with little excitement. The work was piled on again as a sort of punishment for a day's activity. 

One afternoon, freezing to death in double potions, working on a Pepper-Up Potion (oh the irony) and having to decide whether your eyes being burnt out by the steam or your fingers falling off from frostbite was more painful, Severus Snape made a little announcement.

"Harry Potter and Daniel Snape stay behind after class." 

Harry and Daniel shot each other curious looks. They hadn't misbehaved. Their homework was in on time, and their potions were functioning properly. 

Standing in front of Snape's desk, Harry and Daniel were racking their brains trying to think of why they were kept behind. Snape rose from his chair and went into the storeroom to get something. 

"Maybe he's going to congratulate us for our brilliant performance in the First Task." Said Harry jokingly. 

"I doubt that Potter. Sit down" drawled Snape, emerging from the storeroom with a sheet of parchment. Two chairs appeared behind them, and Daniel and Harry sat down cautiously.  Snape looked a bit odd. He was paler than normal and was looking a bit uncomfortable. 

"Professor Dumbledore has asked me to tell you both this. I can't think why, but…" he looked incredibly nervous. He looked as if he was going to launch into an explanation of "The Birds and the Bees". He was fidgeting with his quill and shifting uncomfortably in his chair.  "You are aware of the festivities at Christmas. The Yule Ball?"

"Yes sir." They answered in unison. 

"Right. Well. The Champions have to open the dance."

"What do you mean 'Open the dance?'" Harry interrupted. 

"I mean, Potter, that the champions have to get a partner to dance with." He finished very quickly and busied himself with some papers. 

"Does everyone going to dance have to have partners?" asked Daniel.

"Yes." He answered curtly. 

"Take it you're not going then." She snapped back. 

He looked up with an expression of pure poison. 

"Meaning?" he queried, steepling his fingers under his chin. Harry was intrigued. They looked almost identical. Daniel leant forward and planted her elbows firmly on the polished mahogany. 

"You haven't had a date since 1987." She stated happily. Snape blanched. 

"That's enough Daniel!" he said rather loudly. Glancing at Harry, who was making serious mental notes, he hissed, "I don't want you talking about this in front of him!" Harry didn't seem to notice, he was too busy trying not to think of Snape on a date. 

"So you're going to the dance then?" she asked innocently.

"Yes." He said through gritted teeth. 

"And you have a date then?" 

"I do, as a matter of fact." He looked triumphant.

"Anyone we know?" quipped Harry, joining the conversation. 

"It is none of your business Potter." He snapped.

"So it is someone we know then." Grinned Daniel.

"Oh just get out the both of you." He snarled, standing up and walking quickly into the safety of the storeroom. 

"Sir! I have a question!" Harry yelled through the keyhole.

"What is it now?" he screeched, swinging the door open. 

"D'you want to come to the dance with me?" 

The news of Snape's celibacy, of sorts, spread quickly through the school. Every potions lesson was twisting the proverbial thumbscrews tighter. Students occasionally raised their hands to ask a question, and ended up with a detention for asking him if would like to accompany them to the dance. None of this was Daniel's doing, of course. Harry was solely to blame for this little calamity. Snape didn't seem openly angry towards Harry, but every time his name was mentioned or Potter walked into the classroom, he went very white and his fists opened and closed threateningly. Rumors were also buzzing about who he going to the dance with. In the Slytherin Common Room, there was a chart showing all the eligible female teachers in the school and the odds of Snape going to the dance with them. 

"I hate you." He announced dramatically. Daniel was sitting on his desk, watching him clean up one of Neville's little accidents. 

_(Yes I know how that sounds) _

It was stuck to the floor like superglue and no amount of magic or swearing could get it off. 

"No you don't." she answered quietly, eating a packet of Skittles. 

(For anyone who doesn't know what Skittles are, they're small fruity sweets about the same size as Smarties. If you don't know what Smarties are, get out more.)

"Y'want one?" she gestured, offering him the packet. 

"No." he answered sulkily. He remained quiet for a while, before stopping the frantic scrubbing he was doing. "I mean, just because I haven't had a date in a while…"

"Since 1987."

"Doesn't mean I haven't got any."

"Got any what?"

"You're not that naïve." He groaned, managing to stick his hand to the floor and be sarcastic at the same time. 

"When did you 'get some', then?" she asked, interested now.

"None of your business."

"Aww come on, I'm interested now."

"Well I'm not saying anything."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"Of course you are, you're a virgin."

He spluttered a bit at that.

"I am not a virgin!" he turned around to look at her, just to check if she was being serious. 

"No. Of course not. You're a 35 year old virgin."

"I am not a virgin!"

"Prove it."

"How do you expect me to prove it?" He said, incredulous. 

"Send your lover an owl."

"No. I don't know where they live, or if they've got married or whatever."

His scrubbing returned with new vigor. The packet finished, Daniel dropped on the floor of him. He paused. He went to get his wand, but saw Daniel had it stuck behind her ear like a cigarette. She transfigured the packet into a little white mouse. As it scurried off to find a hole to crawl into, he leaned back against the desk. She sat on the floor beside him. 

"Have you got a dance partner yet?" he asked, staring at his feet. 

"No. Malfoy's been acting a bit queer. He keeps starting up conversations with me then just walking off."

"He wants to ask you to the Yule Ball."

"I figured that out."

"Oh."

"Who're you going with Severus? Come on. I won't tell anyone, I swear." He looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again and returned to staring at his feet. 

"We drew straws in the staff room. It was Flitwick's idea. Just because he knew he wouldn't get to go with anyone."

"Is that not how you got your date?"

"No! I asked him ages ago." He smiled slightly. 

"Have you been seeing him before this?" Daniel was intrigued. 

"Sort of. He's not a teacher, but you'll know him." He said shyly, blushing slightly. "Lives in Hogsmeade."

"What's his name?"

"I don't know if I'll bring him to the dance. Pansy Parkinson's head would probably explode. He won't want to anyway. Roomful of nosey strangers, it would be so awkward." 

"Come on now! Who could resist spending an evening with you?!" 

He gave her a look. 

"Stop humoring me." He stood up sharply. 

"I'm serious! Come on Severus. I can name you 5 positive things about you like that." She clicked her fingers for emphasis. 

"Go ahead." He said smiling, sitting on the corner of his desk. 

"Alright. Number one. You have your own house. In a beautiful location." 

"A house that cost a fortune that I'm only in for about 4 months a year."

"Number two. You're really rich."

"The family's rich Daniel." He quipped, granting her a small smile.

"Number three. You've got a reliable, well-paid job."

"Surrounded by horny little teenagers."

"You were a horny little teenager once, you know."

"Now I'm a horny little 35 year old." He said, giggling slightly.

"Number four. You have a car and a motorbike. Both of which are top of the range."

"You don't expect me to drive around in a little Lada type thing do you?"

"Course not. Number five. You don't look half bad in those motorbike leathers." She grinned, savoring the look on his face. 

"That's disturbing." 

**Hee hee. Because of length problems, this is chapter seven. This and chapter 8 were once one, but sadly, they have since been surgically separated. **


	8. Gonna Make You Love Me

Because of length problems, this is now chapter 8. Sorry for any inconvenience.

The day before Christmas Eve, Daniel was reading in the Library, 

_(as you do)  when an arse sat on the edge of her chair.  Looking up, she was greeted by a slightly red Draco. He could have been red because the library was quite probably the hottest room in the castle, or because he had just sat on the gilded corner of a book. _

"Did you want something?" she queried politely, trying to stop herself laughing at the rising color in his cheeks.

"I wanted to ask you something." He said quite quickly. 

"I'm not really interested Malfoy." She wasn't in the best of moods today. She had woken up to Pansy complaining loudly about a particularly awful period she had, which wasn't the best thing to listen to when the chest under her bed had been completely emptied the night before. 

"Well," he continued quickly, grabbing her attention when she was half willing to listen "I was wondering if…"

"Daniel! Hey wait a minute! I need to ask to you something!" Zabini jogged over to her chair and shoved Draco out of the way.  "Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

"ZABINI! I was going to ask her!" Draco cried in a high pitched voice, alerting half of the library. 

"Were you?" Daniel asked the ruffled blonde, who looked as if he was going to cry. 

"Yes!" he whined, punching Zabini in the balls. While his best friend relocated his testicles, Draco grabbed Daniel's arm. "Will you go to the Ball with me?" he looked slightly crazy, with his hair all sticking up out of place. 

"He did ask me first." She sympathised with Zabini, who was probably unable to procreate. He nodded understandingly, and limped off to find someone else. 

"So you'll go with me?!" Draco whispered excitedly.

"Yeah alright then." She sighed. He gave a high pitched squeaky sound and threw his arms around her. "Ooof! Draco I can't breathe!"

He released her quickly. 

"Sorry, sorry. Oh! Wait! What are you wearing?" he said, suddenly serious. "What colour?" 

"I think it'll probably be some sort of black dress." She said confidently. She had nearly had a stroke when Severus had told her she needed a dress, but he offered to buy her one at the weekend. The mystery boyfriend would be helping, of course, because a 35-year-old guy in biker leathers buying a dress would be a rare sight around London. Not that two 35-year-old guys would be any better…

"Good. Because I'm wearing black."

"And it's so important that we don't clash." She murmured sarcastically, but Draco nodded seriously and spent about half an hour discussing accessories. 

_(This slightly fashion obsessed Draco Malfoy is leeching off Dee and Essy's idea of a crossdressing Draco, and if you haven't read their story, do it now! It's called Bunkbeds and it has it's own website. _

ed at each other for a few seconds. "Um. Don't you think you'd better be going?" Severus hinted, while Alexander mouthed 'Piss off! We're going to shag!' behind his back. 

"O.k. I'll leave you to each other." Daniel sighed, shutting the door behind her. 

  

**Sorry about the delay with this chapter. I've been quite sick lately. Mm. I miss coughing up the contents of my lungs…**

**As usual, this chapter was powered by not sleeping for 4 nights in a row, a jar of Nescafe Gold Blend, and Frank Sinatra. Other stimulants include Devil May Cry 2 (really good, get it), Rammstein, Hilgard's Introduction to Psychology, insomnia and appendicitis. I have a lovely big scar right down my side now. I asked if I could keep my appendix, and offered to provide both jam jar and formaldehyde, but they incinerated it. **

**Xanadan******


	9. Tight Connection To My Heart

This chapter has been pissing me off severely. It keeps cutting bits out. As I'm sure you've noticed. Please review this. I'm beginning to tire of it.                 

The floor of Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom was not the best place to read a private note. There was a Ravenclaw couple making out in one of the cubicles, there was a cauldron with mouldy potion inside it lying in the middle of the floor, and the only dry place to sit was in a sink. The note was unusual for Sirius, the writing was neat, and he had bought parchment, instead of just writing on newspaper.__

_Daniel._

_I've given this note to Alexander Dylan to give to you, so if you got it from anyone else, be cautious. Alexander hasn't told Severus I'm in Hogsmeade. The big hill behind the town itself, the cave at the top._

_Alexander's been feeding me. Nothing special, just as much as he can spare. It's usually Muggle takeaways, but I rather like the Chow Mien now. Beats rats, anyway.__He's told me about everything going on at Hogwarts. Severus probably told him everything. He told me you're going to the Yule Ball with Draco Malfoy. Not exactly surprised. Lucius had a thing for you at one point didn't he?_

_Harry Potter and his friends know where I am. I talked to him through the fire before the First Task. He's been planning to visit me. I was wondering if you could be there as well, and we could tell them everything together. I know you won't want to. But I've been really thinking about it, and I feel it's better if he knows who you are. _

Do you know what the second task is yet? Alexander hasn't very many details about it. He says it involves an egg, but it could involve a unicycling monk and he still wouldn't notice. 

_Harry's been telling me a lot about you. He quite likes you. Not to extent that he would even think of asking to the Yule Ball, but I think he's admiring from a distance. He's a bit worried as well. He told me you went a bit weird in a DADA class, but he explained that it was about the Unforgivables. I understood then. I didn't tell him, of course not, but I think he thinks that Voldemort killed your parents or something. _

_Have a good time at the Ball tonight, I was considering going in dog form, but I decided against it. I was sorely tempted to bite Severus. He'll be in the bushes with Alexander, no doubt. _

_Merry Christmas. _

_Sirius. _


	10. Bite Me Baby

Phew. Chapter Eight. I can't believe this has got so far. Summer holidays soon, so I should get about four or five chapters done through that. 

I got e-mail from someone pointing out that my grammar was _"not that of someone with a triple digit IQ"_. The reason for this is that I write the way I speak, and if you don't like it, 'monkey_poo', you don't have to read it. 

I have a rather interesting story. Not for the squeamish or people who are afraid of corpses. 

**My uncle is a pathologist, which is what I want to be, and I was in the morgue talking to him when two people began preparing a cadaver for autopsy. The body groaned and it's mouth opened. I nearly shat myself. My uncle, the bastard, laughed his head off and said it happened all the time. But he's all right really. When my dog died he dissected it and gave me one of its eyes. I have it in a jar on my shelf.  Cackle.**

The Slytherin Common Room was a hive of vain activity. Much the same atmosphere as the night the champions arrived, but slightly drenched in make up and body glitter. One flaw the muggle and wizard world shared was the weakness of make up. Doesn't matter if it's made of fish scales or whale tongues, as long as it looks good. 

Pansy Parkinson was going to town, of course, and had already peeled off several layers of cheap makeup in an effort to look halfway presentable. Daniel had returned from the shower, and was re-reading the note Sirius had wrote her in the privacy of her four-poster. Slipping the note carefully into her bedside table, she retrieved the dress from her wardrobe. Looking at it disdainfully, 

Pansy Parkinson slapped on another inch of makeup. 

Putting it on, Daniel glanced at her reflection. Not too bad. 

Combing her shoulder length hair into a respectable state of tidiness, she flicked her wand at it and it curled itself up into a neat plait at the back of her head. 

Walking into the Common Room, she looked around for Draco. Failing to spot the unmistakable blond head of her partner, she sat down and waited. Blaise sat down beside her. 

"Are you nervous?" he asked, moving over to let his partner sit down. 

"Why would I be nervous?" she replied, fiddling with the ring Severus had given her. 

"Having to dance in front of the whole school. And some foreigners."  Said Blaise's partner, a third year she didn't know very well. Draco interrupted her answer by sitting sharply beside her. 

"Snape'll be here soon." He said shortly, before looking earnestly around the room. He was wearing jet-black dress robes with a collar that touched the line of his jaw. He glanced at her dress. "That's nice." Draco stated unnecessarily. He was wearing a thick silver ring with a crest on it. 

Sure enough, the door to the Common Room opened slowly and the Slytherin Head stepped inside. He was wearing his dress robes, and had shaved and showered. He ushered out all of the couples, and Draco skittered his way to the front of the line. Joining him, Daniel realized what she was actually doing. She was going to have to dance with Draco Malfoy in front of the whole school. She would be expected to dance with Draco Malfoy all night. She knew Severus would never let her hear the end of it. Severus grinned at her as he led them up to the Hall. They had to wait for a while in the Entrance Hall, while last minute adjustments to the Hall were being carried out. She saw Harry, standing with his partner, and Ron, standing with someone who looked remarkably the same. Ron was fuming. He was staring at Hermione, who was holding onto Krum. Hermione looked completely different. Her hair was sleek and shiny, and fixed into some sort of bun. Harry nodded at them and smiled. It was really obvious Ron was jealous. Professor Dumbledore was talking to Severus and Alexander, who had managed to show up after all. Alexander was trying to put his arm around Severus, who was trying his best not to let him. Alexander giggled at one of Dumbledore's jokes, and said something to Severus with a horny look on his face. They had a brief discussion, and walked subtly outside. The doors to the hall swung open. Professor Mc Gonagall arranged the champions and their partners into a line, with Fleur and her partner at the front. 

They strode regally into the hall, with excited clapping and whistling. Draco slipped a hand onto her hip.

 Inclining an eyebrow, she began waltzing slowly. 

The musicians for the evening were being enthusiastically welcomed by Hogwarts, and the full attention of everyone in the hall was focused on the champions. Draco was leading, naturally, and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. Harry looked as though he was going to have a heart attack. She glimpsed several faces in the crowd she recognized. Severus and Alexander had reemerged. Alexander waved at her, and Severus mouthed "get his hand off your ass" at her. Slowly, other couples began to dance as well, shifting the focus off the champions. When there were enough people dancing, the champions went and sat down. Daniel joined Severus and Alexander at a table. 

"Aren't you two dancing?" she asked them, pouring herself a butterbeer. 

"No." said Alexander sulkily. 

"I am not dancing in front of the entire school." Snape said angrily. He took a drink of his drink and said softly "We can, however, retire early tonight." Looking at Alexander suggestively, he set his drink on the table. Alexander leapt out of his chair and made his way to the doors. A few seconds later, Snape followed suit. 

Daniel glanced around for Draco, who was being 'entertained' by a plethora of jokes from a Durmstrang boy who quite probably knew of Draco's father. Standing up slowly, she glanced around and made her way outside. 

It was a beautiful night. Except from several smoldering rose bushes which Severus probably had something to do with. 

Making her way down to the lakeside, she sat among the roots of a huge oak tree. Staring at the lake, the glittering of the water almost hypnotic. Her stomach growled. For reasons unbeknownst to her, the rage that often accompanied starvation like this wasn't there. Dumbledore had promised to get her more food. He was taking his bloody time about it though. He was busy though, with the Competition and everything. She leaned her head against the trunk of the old tree. 

An arm slipped around her. Snapping her head around sharply, she was about to say something but a kiss shut her up. 

It was Sirius. 

"What the _hell_ are you doing here!?" she hissed, instantly wishing she hadn't said anything. He smiled. He was wearing a top hat. 

"I just thought I'd see how you were doing." A wide grin cracked open on his face. "How'd the dancing go?"

Looking around hastily, she stared back at him. "I felt like an idiot."

"How could you feel like an idiot? You're the best looking lady in the entire school." He frowned. "Except for Severus, of course."

"Oh leave him alone. Alexander's here. It's nice to see him happy."

"I know Alexander's here." His face dropped dramatically. "I nearly tripped over them in the bushes." He moved closer to her. 

"Was not pleasant." He stated unnecessarily, resting his head on her shoulder. They sat for a while, staring at the uneven sparkly water in front of them. She turned to say something, but he kissed her again. He had a tendency to do that. Not that she was complaining, of course, as his hand slipped around her waist and pulled her closer still. He made a growly noise deep in his throat, and he slowly lowered Daniel to the ground until they were horizontal. He rested half his weight on her, and she wrapped an arm tightly round his thin chest. Sirius got the feeling she felt a bit guilty about doing this when she was, technically, on a date with Draco. Skilled hands made her forget.

Draco himself was wandering around the Great Hall scouting for Daniel. He was stopping now and again to mingle and establish himself in the crowd, something he had learned from years of parties at Malfoy Manor. He had, however, never lost a date before. 

After meandering around the Hall for what seemed like ages, he decided to check outside. Walking quietly along the worn path through the bushes decorated with fairies and evanescent snow, he gave up and walked toward the lake. He loved the lake. It was his favorite thing about Hogwarts. The way it looked at night under the moon. Like ink. He knew the Second Task involved the lake somehow. Having Lucius Malfoy as your father had certain advantages. He heard a noise from the left of him. Turning around, he caught sight of what he knew was an amorous couple getting away from the thick of things. Lucky bastards, he thought. Turning to go back to the Great Hall, he heard a breathless voice moan out _'Daniel..'_ He spun around. Trying to control himself, he sneaked up to the tree and hid on the opposite side of the couple. He peeked around the trunk. It was definitely Daniel. He had no idea who the guy was, though. He was on top of her, and she had her legs wrapped around his hips. They were kissing wildly, and a hand on the back of his head was wearing the garnet ring. It flashed at him in moonlight, daring Draco to say something. He felt an unbearable pang of jealousy that it wasn't him. He considered going back to the castle. And he considered castrating the man with his hands all over his date. 

He was about to turn away when Daniel opened her eyes. 

"Draco!" she shrieked.

"What?!" the guy exclaimed, slightly confused. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Daniel shouted, disentangling herself from the stray garments of clothing and trying to cover herself up. 

The guy quickly arranged his robes in a more decent fashion and turned away from Draco. 

Daniel stood up. Staring at Draco's face, she couldn't seem to find the words to say to him. 

"What are you doing here?" she repeated in a calmer voice, her face still flushed. 

"Nice to see you're enjoying my company." he choked, his eyes suddenly shimmering. 

"Draco, I…" she stopped there. Nothing she could say would make him feel better. "If you thought that tonight would be anything more than a dance you're sadly mistaken." She snarled.

 Oh crap. 

The night's activities had burned energy she didn't have. 

Well and truly hungry now. 

His chin wobbled. Draco was a Malfoy. Therefore, he was used to getting what he wanted. When an unattainable prize presented itself, he naturally wanted it even more. 

"Oh my God Draco watch out!" she shouted, staring in abject fear at something behind him. Twirling round, he looked for the danger. Daniel thocked him on the back of the head. Catching his limp body before he hit the ground, she turned him around and stood him up. His head lolled back helplessly. He murmured softly about something. Daniel looked around for Sirius. He was gone. At least Draco hadn't seen him. Ripping away the high collar on Malfoy's dress robes, she turned his head to one side and sunk her teeth deep into his alabaster skin. The hot liquid flooding into her mouth sent her into a state of giddiness. Swallowing hurriedly, she stopped just short of killing him. The cut on his neck healed quickly after a short charm from her wand. 

He'd be a bit drowsy and feel a bit weak but he'd get over it. 

Nothing like a nice fresh meal post-coitus. 

Ta Da!!!!  I can't honestly remember what chapter this is, after the bother I had with the last three. Which I hoped you enjoyed. 

**So. Daniel's a vampire. You did figure that out, right?**

**Not really much of a shock if you add up all the clues. There weren't that many clues, but all the same, I hoped you enjoyed this. Bit short.**

**I'm hyper, by the way. I discovered the joy of Mc Vities Cookies. Tsk tsk. Too much sugar…not enough insulin…**

**Xanadan******


	11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

I apologize for the last few chapters and the amazing quality they have attained that makes part of them vanish and bits of old ones to pop up instead. It's seems to be quietening down now, though. 

**I have been quite busy lately thinking up a synopsis for a story I'm planning. It won't be allowed on Fan Fiction, because it will be NC-17, (hee hee) but I should get it somewhere else. **

**This chapter will take ages being put up because I managed to split the very tip of my left middle finger to the bone. And I find typing quite painful. **

**What was the little 'romantic' scene like? First published attempt at anything vaguely smutty. I say 'romantic', because the thought of rolling around in the dirt does nothing for me. Even with Sirius Black. *Smiles***

**I have read Book 5. One of my favourite guys is no more…**

The coppery taste of blood stayed under Daniels' tongue until late afternoon the next day. Draco had woken up in his bed with a strange pain in his neck and dizzy feeling which remained until he got up and walked it off. Daniel had transfigured Draco's listless body into a twig and carried him in her fist to the Slytherin Common Room. Putting him in bed, she changed him back and debated with herself about whether or not to put him in pajamas. 

After coming to the conclusion that he would suspect something if he woke up in his dress robes, she hastily removed said robes and fought him into his nightclothes. After that particular battle was won, she went back down to the Ball and informed Blaise that Draco was feeling sick and had went to bed early. Walking outside again, she remembered with a giddying thrill the feeling of the hot blood flowing down her throat. Feeling sated for the first time in a long time, she took it upon herself to sprint to the school gates. 

Arriving there, she apparated to Sirius' residence. She stood outside the cave for a while, letting her eyes get adjusted to the navy sky. Slipping slowly into the cave, she paused for a while, kneeling to a hippogriff tied to a rock in the corner. It accepted her submission and went back to sleep. Sirius was lying on a pile of old newspapers. He was in dog form, of course, a dog would look much less suspicious sleeping in a cave. Sitting down beside him, she stroked the matted hair on his back and shoulders, and he moaned and shifted in his sleep. Before she left, she scribbled him a short note, explaining about the precarious end to their evening and assured him that Draco didn't know who he was. He looked so annoyingly peaceful. The weight of the world hidden behind filthy black hair and chestnut eyes. 

The Slytherin Common Room was almost perfectly silent. The faint crackling of the fire was the last sound Daniel heard that night, as she fell asleep on the faded leather sofa. Warm, comfortable, satisfied, and trying not to think about Sirius lying on newspapers, living off rats and unknowing rival of a Mr. Draco Malfoy. 

Being jerked awake in the early hours of the morning is never a good way to start the day. Especially not when the person jerking you awake is psychotic and blonde. Dragging Daniel into the shower rooms, Draco Malfoy looked angry. He stared at her for a few seconds, and then turned away, muttering. Well, she thought, if he's not going to say anything. Daniel made for the door, but Draco slapped her hand away from the cold steel handle and slammed her up against the tiles. 

"Who is he?" he hissed, fists clenched at her collar, putting uncomfortable pressure on her throat. Making a halfhearted attempt to push him off, Daniel found herself removed from the wall. Draco kicked her feet out from under her, and then she was on the damp tiles. His knees were pinning her arms to the floor, and surprisingly strong arms kept her head from moving at all. 

"Who is he?" he screamed, lifting her head off the floor so he could look at her. Sighing in exasperation, Daniel tried to get up. A fist slammed into her jaw. A flash of light seemed to come from inside her head. Dazed, she blinked several times before she could see. When his incensed features were in sharp focus again, he relaxed his grip a fraction. "Is he from Durmstrang? Beauxbatons?" he gave a giggle. "Is he from Hogwarts?" he turned his grinning face to the ceiling, and then dropped it sharply to look at her. 

"You're an idiot Malfoy." She said thickly, jaw throbbing. Grabbing a handful of her hair, he smashed her head back onto the floor.

He felt her body go limp underneath him. Her head flopped back onto the tiles, the dull noise echoing round the empty shower cubicles. 

There was a sort of explosion in the pit of his stomach. He was elated, he had shown her briefly what it was to mess with a Malfoy, and yet, he was filled with a mortal dread as to what she would do when she woke up. He got up and looked down at her. Daniel Snape. Scary bitch from Hell. Not so bloody scary now, he thought. A thin line of blood was making its way from the corner of her mouth to the floor. Ohh, god. The sight of blood made him nauseous. It never had done before, but since last night, when his faint memories of the concluding moments were of teeth sinking beneath the surface of his skin, and of the satisfied growl she made in the pit of her throat, he didn't seem to able to stomach it. He leaned over a sink, and stared at his pale reflection. He touched the raised lumps on his throat gently. You wouldn't know they were there unless you touched his neck. He wouldn't ever let anyone go near his neck again. 

He heard a sound behind him. He spun around, and nearly fainted. Daniel was standing, albeit shakily, and she looked mad. 

The look on her face promised punishment. She smiled. Draco let out a dry choke. Her teeth. They didn't look like the fake vampire teeth you get at Halloween. These looked very strong, very dangerous, and very real. She was still dazed. He quickly uncharmed the door, which had stayed unopenable throughout his questioning. Daniel seemed to realize what he was doing. She planted herself in front of the door. He walked forward hesitantly, she kept her eyes trained on his face, and it was almost unbearable for that manic, hungry look to be focused on him. Keeping his wand between himself and Daniel, he walked forward a few more steps. She didn't move. Draco realized she wouldn't try anything with the common room filled with people, and even if she did, his Father would have her exterminated. Thinking about it was easier than doing it. Trying to be confident, he walked past her to the door. He had his hand on the handle. As he was opening the door, a white hand slapped onto his wrist. Draco whimpered. Jerking him sharply from the door, Daniel slammed him into the wall, using the same forceful attitude he had used. He was facing the wall, and his left arm was twisted behind his back, and his right arm was stretched out on the wall, her hand still clamped on his thin wrist. She was dangerously close to the back of his neck. Daniel felt him trembling, and laughed quietly, sending cold breath over the surface of his skin. Putting her face closer to his, Draco could see the desire to bite him again dancing in her eyes. He averted his eyes. Making an amused noise, she twisted his arm further, almost lifting him off the ground. Draco whined with the pain. Being mollycoddled for all his life hadn't given him much of a pain threshold. 

"If you ever," she growled into his ear, "think you can do that to me," Draco shivered, he could feel her teeth grazing over the skin on his neck, "I will make it my business to see you suffer." One of her long fingers trailed over his neck. "What you felt last night was nothing compared to what I can do."  She let him go. Standing back, but still within arms length, she watched him straighten his robes and gingerly feel his shoulder. He muttered something about, " my father..". He hadn't meant to, but it was force of habit for him to say after he had been made uncomfortable by anyone. Daniel's eyes flickered horribly. Draco had unknowingly given her an excuse to injure him some more. He hunched up, bracing himself for an attack. When nothing happened, he felt a bit stupid and straightened himself up in time to see Daniel advance menacingly. He shut his eyes tight and felt himself fall. Draco hit the tiles quite lightly. Daniel sat on top of him, holding his thin wrists under her knees. It took a while for her to do anything. Draco thought about Malfoy Manor, and never seeing it again. His bedroom, which he had lovingly decorated to the best of his ability, and waking up every morning during the summer holidays and being able to do just about anything he wanted to. 

"I'm not going to kill you Draco." She said quietly, an edge of anger still grating her voice. He lifted his head to look at her. Her face had lost the feral look that had dominated her features since she regained consciousness. She leaned forward over him, so that her hair tickled his face and their noses were barely an inch apart. 

"But what I do is my business. And if you ever think otherwise," she dug one of her fingernails along the line of his jaw. Blood seeped at the edges of the cut. Waiting until a bit had collected at the surface, she flicked it off with her finger. "I will not let you live next time round." Draco shuddered as she licked her finger clean. She smiled faintly. Jumping to her feet, she exited the room. Draco sat up slowly. The enormity of what she had done, she had threatened him, he, Draco Malfoy. Father had told him to be wary around her. He walked slowly out of the bathroom. And straight into a waiting Daniel. Standing right next to her, he only thing he could think of was how it would feel to be the anonymous guy at the Yule Ball.

 Feeling her under him. 

Around him. He wanted her so badly. Yet, the homicidal maniac aspect had to be in the relationship also. 

"I don't need to tell you to keep this quiet." Daniel drawled, using the same tone of speech as Draco used so often. He nodded frantically. She went to walk past him to the dormitories, but instead stopped just as they touched. "And don't think about me like that when I'm in the room." She snarled. Brushing past him, Draco shivered involuntarily. Did she know what he was thinking?

He couldn't help think, as he wiped the cut on his jaw, if she knew how he felt when he saw her with another guy. If she knew what he dreamed, knew what he imagined doing to her, what he dreamed she did to him, and ultimately, what they did together in Draco's mind whenever he saw her. He just wondered if she knew. 

Awwww. How sad. But I had to end it somewhere. 

**Xanadan**


	12. Kinderfeld

Phew. I'm on a bit of a roll at the minute. I think the offending chapters have been rectified. But if they're not, I am almost beyond caring. This shouldn't go on much longer, but the upcoming chapters will happen over a large space of time. E.g. one chapter may cover weeks or days, or hours, I'm confusing myself at the minute. I'll change my mind as soon as I post this and then be too lazy to change it. Dear dear. 

The mind of Draco Malfoy was occupied through the following week or so with the news that Hagrid was a half-giant. He walked around the Common Room with apparent glee, quoting the article every time he got an opportunity. There were awkward moments, however, when Snape paired him and Daniel together in potions. She seemed to take great relish in letting her eyes flicker over his neck as he peered over the cauldron, and once he nearly had a heart attack when she licked her lips, apparently unknowingly, with an expression of great longing on her face. Draco had a horrible feeling Snape knew what was going on. Every time Draco caught Daniel looking at his jugular, she grinned and glanced toward Snape, who allowed himself a small smile before screeching at Neville, who always doing something wrong. One time, they were writing out a method for a potion they were making, and he looked at Daniel carefully, and was surprised to see her lips moving, as though she was talking. She didn't make a sound. Every so often she would stop, and then start it again. He glanced at Professor Snape, who was engaged in the same activity. Then she mimed something, and Snape told him to get back to work. He glanced at his teacher, and then at Daniel, and shook his head, perplexed. 

On the last Hogsmeade visit before the Second Task, Daniel was sitting in the Three Broomsticks talking to Alexander in hushed tones about Sirius. 

"But what if he gets caught?" she hissed at him, before taking another mouthful of her Butterbeer.

"He won't." Alexander said matter-of-factly. "He's too smart, is Sirius." Staring at the dingy pub around her, she was overcome with a strong feeling that she had to see Sirius. The door pinged open and Harry, Hermione and Ron walked in. They ordered, and sat down. 

"Has Dumbledore got your food yet?" he asked. Alexander was one of the few people who could talk to her about feeding without cringing or retching or, indeed, fainting. 

"No. He's procrastinating. Not purposefully, but he's quite busy at the minute." She looked at his face. 

"How come you're not dead then?" he asked, curious. Daniel looked murderously at her butterbeer. 

"Draco Malfoy parted company with a few pints at the Yule Ball." She said slowly, watching the expression on his handsome face change. 

"And does he remember? Does he know it was you?" he almost screamed, before controlling himself and whispering it hurriedly. 

Daniel laughed throatily.

"'Course he does." Alexander looked absolutely dumbstruck.

"But he'll tell Lucius! He'll have you killed!"

"He'll be quiet." She answered in an undertone. Some sort of argument had broken out between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Rita Skeeter. 

"You can't go around eating Malfoys'!" he hissed, ignoring the fight behind him. The three Gryffindors stormed out of the Three Broomsticks, leaving Rita Skeeter standing in the middle of the room with her photographer. "What? What else is there?" he asked exasperatedly, eyeing her carefully. She stared back at him.

"Sirius was there. Draco caught Sirius and myself in a rather compromising position." Daniel answered bluntly.

"Does Draco know it was Sirius?" Alexander asked, as though a convict on the run meeting up with one of his best friends was a normal occurrence. 

"No. He doesn't, thank Christ." Daniel put her head in her hands. 

"D'you want another drink?" 

"Yeah ok."

Daniel sat staring at the polished oak table waiting for Alexander. Something colorful sat opposite her. Looking up into the bejeweled glasses of Rita Skeeter tested her patience quite dramatically. 

"Since when were you at Hogwarts?" queried Rita, peering at Daniel as though she was an exhibit in some weird zoo. 

"Since when was it your business?" Daniel snapped, glancing round for Alexander. "You saw me at the Wand Weighing, idiot."

"I wouldn't be so damn cheeky to me. I don't think you'd like the entire school knowing what you are." Rita quipped, sitting back triumphantly.

"If you did that Rita, you do know it would be last thing you ever write?" Daniel answered, crossing her arms. 

"You don't scare me Snape. If the truth got out about you, the parents of the school would want you exterminated."

"There are substantial amounts of people who do know, Rita. Many of them are in the Ministry. And many of them are parents of children at Hogwarts." She stared the vile reporter in the eyes. "So, if you did write it, I wouldn't be the one exterminated." Rita lifted something off the seat beside her. The Quick-Quotes Quill had been hidden on the opposite seat. Stuffing it into her bag, Rita removed herself from the pub and Bozo, the photographer, snapped a picture and followed suit.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Alexander innocently, setting the drinks on the table. He had kindly got her a large Firewhisky. 

"Rita Skeeter is going to ruin my life." Daniel answered dramatically. 

Alexander giggled. "What's so bloody funny?" said Daniel, staring at him. "I could get kicked out of the Triwizard Tournament!" 

"It's not like you to be concerned about Rita Skeeter." He said finally, controlling his not very masculine laughter. Letting him laugh his way to stopping, Daniel sipped the Firewhisky carefully. It burned her throat slightly, but it was by far the best drink Madame Rosmerta could serve. 

"Do you know what the Second Task is yet?" he asked her seriously. 

"Yes." Daniel replied, "the egg sings in Mermish, so it's obviously something to do with mermaids, and mermaids live in the lake. So the lake in clearly pivotal to the task. The song the egg sings says something about taking something special or important to you. So whatever they take will be with the mermaids in the lake."

Alexander clapped proudly. 

"Very good." He praised. "Took me ages to figure it out, and Severus gave me all the clues." Daniel smiled.

He looked suddenly worried. "What are you going to do when they put Sirius in the lake?" Daniel laughed derisively. 

"Sirius is not the thing I care about the most." She answered, smiling. 

"That would be Severus."

When Daniel arrived back at the castle, she noticed Harry Potter looked as though he was going to break into tears at any minute. Supposing the pressure of the Second Task was getting to him, and that figuring out the egg is harder for someone who can't speak Mermish, she dragged him into a deserted classroom after dinner. 

"Potter, would you listen to me?" Daniel snapped, his faraway gaze beginning to irritate her a bit. "The egg clue, have you sorted it out yet?" He looked at her suspiciously. 

"This is cheating, you know." He said slowly, looking at the door in case he thought someone was going to burst in. 

"I've already got it figured out, alright?" she glanced at the door as well, like she heard something, "but the screechiness, it's Mermish, you can only hear it properly underwater."

"Why are telling me this?" Harry asked carefully, remembering her volatile temper. 

"Because, Potter, I am sick of you wandering round the school looking like a zombie." She said quickly, although not entirely convincingly. 

"Aww, it's almost as if you care." Harry drawled, smiling infectiously. 

Grinning herself, Daniel actually turned around and looked at the door. 

"I keep hearing something out there." She said distractedly. 

"I don't hear anything." Harry said, as though that dismissed the idea of anything ever being out there. 

"Use the Prefect's bathroom, the password's Pine Fresh." She hissed quickly, grabbing him and throwing him under a table. The door swung open. Percy Weasley stepped inside, his head flicking around looking for troublemakers. 

"What are you doing in here?" he snapped, walking swiftly towards her. 

"I heard something in here, in the closet," she motioned toward it, and Percy stepped past the table Harry was under, which allowed the Gryffindor to streak out the door. 

"I don't see anything." Percy said, "come on, get out." He commanded, shooing her out the door. Daniel went to walk back to the Slytherin Common Room, when the Slytherin Prefect bounded up to her. 

"Daniel, Professor Snape wants to see you in his office." He panted; he had obviously been running around looking for her. 

Sighing, Daniel turned and made her way to the Office of Severus Snape.

Lordy.  Hate finishing like that, but I need to get this one out of the way. It looks, to me at least, that there will be at least five more chapters coming. At least. Bugger. 

**Thank you to everyone who has complimented me on the story.**

**Xanadan **


	13. Between Angels and Insects

I know that Percy Weasley had left Hogwarts, and I am actually kicking myself now for putting him in Prefect. But I'm re-reading the whole Harry Potter series and I keep confusing myself, and ultimately, you lot. Sorry…

"Shadows are falling, and I've been here all day.

It's too hot to sleep, the time is running away.

Feels like my soul has turned into steel.

I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal.

It's not even room enough to be anywhere,

It's not dark yet, but it's getting there."****

**'Not Dark Yet'   Bob Dylan**

Standing in front of the Office door, Daniel tried to think of what Severus could want. Turning the knob, she stepped into the cool room. There was always a strange chemical smell that lingered around this area of the school. 

"Severus?" she called out. No answer. Glancing around, she noticed some of the cupboard doors were open, closing them all; she cleared up a spill on the floor and made herself at home. Picking a book off the shelf, she sat down on a chair and read for a bit. About ten minutes later, Severus and Alexander burst through the door, laughing hysterically.  Stopping when they saw her, a weird little smile remained on their faces. 

"I called for you ages ago." Severus said, puzzled. The front of his robes were wet. Staring pointedly at him, Daniel stood up and made a show of smoothing out her robes and Severus noticed himself and went to get changed. 

"What's going on?" she asked Alexander, who was making himself some tea. Giving her an apologetic look over the rim of the teacup, Alexander gurgled the tea in his throat. 

"Severus found out about Malfoy." He replied hoarsely. Groaning, Daniel collapsed back onto the chair.

 "How does he know?"  She asked him, although she already knew. 

Alexander went to answer, but Severus had re-entered the room, wearing long sort of longish shirt. Instead of answering, he tapped the side of his head. Daniel nodded understandingly. It was always hard keeping secrets from a Snape, unless you knew how. 

Sitting down opposite her, Severus and Alexander looked like the 'odder couple'. Alexander was neatly dressed in Muggle clothing, and Severus looked like an escapee from an Insane Asylum, wearing an oversized white-ish shirt and red socks. 

"I know about Malfoy." Severus said quietly, staring at the area between her eyes. Alexander looked mildly humored.

 "And I can understand that you were...hungry...but I have to impress upon you the severity of what you've done." He looked relieved to have said it. 

"Yes, I am deeply sorry for taking a bite out of Draco Malfoy and I can guarantee it will never happen again unless I am really really hungry."

Daniel recited in a monotone. Alexander grinned. Severus made a disgruntled noise and pulled something out from under the sofa he was sitting on. 

"Dumbledore sent me these." He said quickly. More blood. Opening the airtight case, Daniel was greeted with at least enough blood to do her for a month. Smiling broadly, she clasped it closed again. 

"It's human." Severus stated roughly. He was making even more tea. He must live off it. Suddenly, there was a huge crash resounding through the stone ceiling. Severus looked puzzled and walked quickly out the door. 

"I'll stay here." Alexander said sleepily, as Daniel followed. Sprinting up the stairs, Daniel found Mad Eye Moody, Filch, and Severus all standing arguing at the foot of a staircase. Glancing up the stairs, she got the distinct impression someone was there. A saponaceous smell drifted down from about the middle of the stairs. Clambering up the rough stone steps, the three men still arguing behind her, Daniel definitely sensed someone. Coming up to the trick stair, she distinctly heard someone say her name.

"What?" she whispered.

"It's me, Harry." 

"What are you doing?" said a voice from behind her, jumping, Daniel turned to Severus standing on the step beneath her. 

"I thought I heard something." She answered. Severus inhaled deeply.

"Do you smell soap?" he asked, confused. 

"The prefect's bathroom isn't far from here. It's probably someone having a bath." She replied, casting a proud little glance to where she hoped Harry's head was. Severus turned and descended the stairs. 

"Thanks Daniel." Harry whispered gratefully. Following Severus, Daniel felt suddenly tired. 

"I'm off." She said simply, and Severus nodded in acknowledgement. 

On the way back to Common Room, Daniel collected the case from Severus' office, and avoided waking Alexander, who was muttering about digestive biscuits in his sleep. 

The next day, Harry looked absolutely depressed at breakfast. The sadness had set in after he had received an owl, so Daniel presumed it must be something to do with Sirius. At least Rita Skeeter had published nothing. Nothing about Daniel, anyway. 

Later that day, Slytherins and Gryffindors had Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had managed to procure two baby unicorns. Gleaming in the sunlight, the foals were responsive and friendly and not at all wary of the boys. After Draco had his fill of petting the foals, he went and sat in the shadow created by Hagrid's hut. The girls of the group were making high-pitched 'Aww' noises every time the foals did something completely normal, like blinking or eating sugar lumps. After Daniel had fed one of them a handful of sugar lumps, and wondered about the affects it would have on their teeth, she went and sat next to Draco. He froze. Leaning in close to him, she asked, 

"What did you think of the unicorn foals?" Draco looked as though she was going to rip out his heart in front of the whole class. 

"They're alright.' He said in a strangled voice. Daniel remained silent for a while.

"I always think unicorns are like Malfoys." She stated in a whisper. 

"Why do you think that?" Draco screeched, turning heads. 

"Because," she grinned, "when you were a baby, you had hair the colour of gold. And unicorns are gold when they're young. And now, when you're 15, you have silvery colored hair. And unicorns go silver when they age. And then, eventually, they go pure white. Like your father."  Draco stared at her, horrified. 

"How…when did you see me?" the only tone of voice he could manage made him sound like a chipmunk. 

"Your father and I know each other. I'm sure he's mentioned me. You're very like Lucius." Daniel finished, sneering happily at the highly amusing look of calculation on Draco's face. 

"You didn't…" he cleared his throat, unable to finish the sentence.

"No. I didn't. Well. Once…but never again, because Lucius is diabetic. And you never want to get a diabetic." Daniel shuddered at the memory. Draco looked sickened. The bell rang up at the Castle to signal the end of the class. Getting up swiftly, Daniel watched Draco drag himself up the slope toward the doors. He slipped once on a bit a slick mud and Daniel snapped a hand around the scruff of his neck and yanked him up the rest of the hill. Wrenching her hand off him, Draco looked a bit disturbed that she had helped, but he hadn't really expected her to do anything in front of half the year. He had had a dream about her last night. A dream that resulted in a hasty shower and clean sheets before the rest of the boys had woken. Little snippets from the dream kept coming back to him, he remembered a particularly kinky bit as she grabbed the back of his neck.

"Draco." Said a soft voice in his ear. It was Daniel. "I warned you about thinking of me like that. As _flattered _as I am, I have no desire to share in your little fantasies." She glared at him. "Alright?"

Draco nodded. She had reminded rather forcefully of Professor Snape, and putting him in her place in the dream almost made him sick.

Daniel giggled. She was still looking at him. 

"Don't think about him like that when he's in the vicinity." She hinted joyously, nodding behind him. Professor Snape was staring at Draco with an unreadable look on his face. Draco flushed the color of beetroot and ran off into the boy's toilets. Snape shot her a, 'he doesn't, does he?' look, and she shook her head. Looking relieved Severus walked into the Hall to get his dinner. And Draco, who had remembered that dinner was being served, ran back out of the toilets and into the Great Hall, banging into Snape on his way. Snape gave him a suggestive little grin and Draco shot up to the Slytherin Table. Frowning, Daniel took her place beside him. 

"Does Snape think I like him?" Draco hissed from under the table.

"No. He's just trying to freak you out." Daniel answered kindly, passing him food while teachers filed past. 

In the evening before the Second Task, Daniel had left the Common Room and was wandering aimlessly around the school. She hadn't got a plan for the Second Task yet, but last minute decisions were her forte. 

The lake glinted tauntingly at her through the windows. She wondered how Dumbledore would get Severus into the lake without getting killed. Severus could swim, but by the time he got to the surface he'd be dead. 

Finding herself back in the dungeons, Daniel sneaked around Filch, who was berating a suit of armor. Entering Snape's office, she was mildly surprised to find Alexander sitting reading all on his lonesome. 

"They've taken Severus to the lake." He said gleefully. Obviously, the idea of Severus stuck a few hundred feet beneath the surface of a lake amused him. 

"Did he put up a fight?" Daniel asked, sitting beside Alexander. 

"Not at all! I was really shocked that he didn't start to whinge or cry or shout, I suppose he was still in shock from being the thing you'd miss the most." Alexander grinned at her, flicking through a book on his lap. 

"Who did he think it was going to be?" Daniel said incredulously. 

"Sirius, obviously." Alexander didn't take his eyes off the book. 

"He knows he means more to me than Sirius." Alexander made a noise in the pit of his throat. 

"He does know. Well, he knows now." They sat in silence for a while. 

Alexander glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's late. You should get a good night's sleep for the task. You'll be swimming a lot, presumably." Standing up, Daniel was surprised when Alexander rose too and gave her a tight hug. "Be careful tomorrow." Said a muffled voice near her temple. Smiling faintly, Daniel returned to the Slytherin Common Room.

**Can you get addicted to tea? I think I am.**

**These chapters are just flying out of my head. I can barely remember what I had planned for the story to begin with. Anyway, you lot seem to be liking it, so I'll not complain. **

**Thanks for the reviews.**

**Xanadan**


	14. Sweetness

Hello. Again, I find myself at the start of a chapter. This story is just flying by. I really want to get started on another I have planned. But hopefully, this one won't irritate me too much. The next few chapters have already been written, but I'm allowing Fan Fiction a while to get accustomed to the recent influx of chapters. There should be more biting. Hooray!

"Are you locked up in a world,

That's been planned out for you?

Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?"

'She'

Green Day 

Entering the Common Room, Daniel was surprised to find it was still quite busy. It was about half twelve at night, and people kept wishing her luck and giving advice for the task. Even if they didn't know what it was. Settling comfortably in a chintz chair, Daniel was disturbed again. It was Draco. He looked scared at talking to her. She felt a twinge of guilt when he shuddered involuntarily whenever they were within a foot of each other. 

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he looked really worried. "Please?"

Getting up, Daniel followed him to the Shower Rooms. As always, they were deserted. The horrible smell of a room just after a shower made her scowl. Draco swallowed, scared that he had annoyed her. Daniel looked at him expectantly. It took a while for him to gather the words. He opened his mouth several times, but all he did was make a strangled choking noise. "We were, friends, before the Yule Ball, weren't we?" Draco Malfoy looked sad. Daniel could hear his heart flutter beneath his robes. 

"Yes." Draco looked disappointed, he had maybe expected an enthusiastic 'of course we were'. 

"And, I feel really…stupid, I suppose, for letting myself ruin it." He glanced up at her. "And I've thought about it and I know that you're entitled to a life outside Hogwarts, and that you can see other people, but I just want to apologize for wrecking everything. I shouldn't have been so ignorant." He finished quickly. "I'm sorry."

Daniel stared at him. She had never, ever, heard a Malfoy apologize. 

"Oh." Draco took this as an acceptance. 

"So," he extended a thin hand, "Friends?" Raising an eyebrow, Daniel shook his hand, remembering to keep her grip on it minimal. Draco smiled joyously and practically bounced out of the room. Trudging up to bed, Daniel was greeted with Pansy looking like a homicidal heifer. 

Striding forwards, Pansy slapped her with the back of her shovel-like hand. 

"You bitch!" she screeched. "How could you do that to Draco?" 

A flash of panic skittered through Daniel's head. How could she know?

"Leaving him at the Yule Ball! You insensitive bitch! He just wanted to get to know you!" Pansy was waving her hands around so much she was almost a blur.

"What do you care? Now he'll pay more attention to you." Daniel stated slowly, watching her brain whirr into working.

"Still, don't ever upset him again!' Pansy said warningly. 

…..God, how long had she been running? Her legs felt like they didn't belong to her. He was behind her, shouting for her to give in, to give up. Scrambling through brambles and bushes, avoiding branches and rabbit holes, Daniel Snape sprinted deeper and deeper into the darkening forest. She felt his hands graze the back of her neck, and she shrieked and pushed herself onwards with strength she never knew she had. 

"You cannot escape me, Daniel!"

He had been chasing her for what seemed like days. She had run into the forest in the hope he would run into a stick. Which would conveniently pierce his heart and leave her safe. 

Jumping over a low bush, she realized with horror that a stream was sunk into the ground some 15 feet beneath her. How could she have jumped off a small mountain without realizing? Plunging into the icy water, elation filled her wiry frame. She had got rid of him, he was nowhere to be seen. Fighting her way to the bank, she crawled out onto the grass. Wearing only a thin set of robes, she shivered in the cold dank of the trees. Sitting up, she was greeted with a pair of knees. This was too much. Daniel burst into tears, and felt herself be pushed back roughly onto the ground. He was straddling her, pinning her hips to the ground. His delicate hands were holding her wrists, rendering her very vulnerable. She stopped crying. She was too upset and scared to cry. He studied her for a while, taking in her helpless form. Releasing one of her wrists, he ran his thumb over her lower lip, smiling when she turned her head away. He leaned in closer, so his upper body was lying against hers. Daniel kept her eyes turned away from his. His free hand lifted her chin and she held eye contact with him for a second. He kissed her lightly, and when he drew back she could see the feral gleam in his eyes. Taking leave of her senses, Daniel screamed for help and struggled against him. He laughed. A deep, mocking sound that made her feel like shit. 

"No one can hear you, little one, you're all mine." Daniel convulsed beneath him, taking by him by surprise. She scrambled to her feet and tried to run toward the edge of the forest. She had no idea where she was going, but anywhere he wasn't was good enough for her. He speared her, knocking the breath out of her lungs and throwing her to the ground. This was it. The last thing she was going to see was the underside of leaves. She tensed up, waiting for him to do it. She could already feel his breath against her throat, and the vice-like grip of his hands on her arms made her lose feeling in her hands. He stopped holding her. Removing his hands from her arms, he let her calm down a bit. Gasping for breath, Daniel waited. What was he going to do now? She watched his face as his hands traveled obscenely over her body. She wanted to scream. She wanted him far far away, and she wanted to be deaf, so she couldn't hear the ragged moaning as he ravaged her already broken body. 

Lying limply on the ground, Daniel Snape wished she were dead. The realization of what had occurred was tearing through her brain. She couldn't bear to move. Not wanting to admit that the body he had destroyed was her own. He fixed his attire, ripped from chasing her through the toughest plants known to man. Her head pounded, and her bruised limbs would not obey her commands to hit whatever part of him they could. A hot pain was creeping up from her belly. He sat on her hips again, relishing the way she tried to mask her agony. He placed his hands on her shoulders, and leaned in, putting more pressure on her stomach. She didn't even try to stop him. Feeling the cold wetness on her skin made her want to vomit, he licked her neck slowly and applied gentle suction as he pierced the surface. This was a new pain. A double prick made her jerk out of  disowning  herself, and as he sunk deeper and deeper the pain was paralyzing. She could feel him swallowing mouthful after mouthful of blood. As it progressed, she lost feeling in her extremities. As she neared emptiness, he stopped. Pulling out was as bad as going in. Whimpering, Daniel tried her best to stop him, but he felt so immensely strong. He cradled her against his chest as he made a deep cut near the base of his neck. Lifting her head up, he looked into her eyes. "It'll be alright." His lips didn't move, but she was sure she heard it. How could he be so kind after what he had done to her? But she couldn't help trusting him. He felt nice. Warm, warmer than her, anyway. When she tasted the first drop of his blood, she knew that it _was_ all right.  It filled her with strength, and the heady feeling made her almost giddy. It warmed her, and even though it was mingled with her own, tasted ancient, like some magic elixir, and she wished it wouldn't end. But he pulled her head away from his neck, and she saw the wound seal and vanish before her very eyes. He smiled down at her. The feel of his cold skin against her made her nauseous, but she clung onto him anyway. She felt the blood in her humming. A shock of pain flashed in her chest. Too exhausted to react, she closed her eyes and waited for Death. A momentary rest before she could exact vengeance on him. As the blackness overtook her senses, he held her close to him, and she felt herself go limp long before she lost hold of what remained of her life….

Daniel Snape leapt out of the dream with a shout. Staring blankly at the inside of the curtains on the bed, she didn't want to pull them back for fear of him being there. Waiting for her. Sitting up in bed, she drew unnesscessary shuddering breaths, wishing she had the dream that frequented her sleep instead. The dream where she rose again, met his excited eyes, and lopped his head off. Not this. Not when tomorrow was the Second task. The vividness of the dream had always shocked her. She could still feel him, his fingers ghosting over her skin. Shaking herself, Daniel wrapped the covers around her tighter, although they offered no real comfort. Keeping her eyes open, because his face was plastered on the back of her eyelids, Daniel flung a curtain back. Nothing. Stepping out of bed, she looked around nervously, not knowing why, because she knew he was dead. Walking slowly into the Common Room, she settled herself in a chair by the fire. The warmth made her feel better. 

She couldn't help remembering the dream. Putting a hand carefully to her neck, there were two faint bumps, too small to be noticed. 

After she had become a vampire, Daniel had hated herself for not stopping it. Everything was different, her senses perceiving very ordinary things to be completely alien to her. The night no longer seemed dark. On the contrary, it glittered. Like the moon was another sun. Hunger had taken her, and she had forbidden herself to kill anyone. The memory of how it had felt to her still fresh in her mind stopped her from inflicting that on someone else. Until she met a young man called Philippe. He wasn't a vampire, but he was a very wicked human. He didn't know she was a vampire, but he worshipped her. Everything she did was wonderful. Until he thought that Daniel loved him, and tried to force consummation of their friendship. He didn't find it so wonderful when she plunged her canines into his throat so far she thought his spine would snap. Leaving his body for the crows, she left the town she had called home, a small Roman military settlement established after the Gallic Wars. Her centuries of traveling allowed her to hone her magical and vampiric skills until she was unstoppable. Her only relied on herself, and anyone who thought she could be trusted ended up dead. Or worse. The thrill of the hunt, and the ecstasy of the kill fuelled her until she journeyed to England, and heard word about a magic school being founded in the North. Surveying the four founders working in harmony inspired her for the first time in her life. Then Salazar Slytherin left, and the running of the school was left to Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Wanting a change, a new beginning, and a bit of meaning to her eternal existence, she took up position of Potions and Charms teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

She was not a qualified teacher, but her experience with various concoctions and her extensive knowledge of hexes and charms got her the job. As the founders died off one by one, she became headmistress. Then, at the turn of the 19th Century, she left the school, and went back to sacking towns all over Europe. She earned an impressive reputation, and the name Snape grew in authority. After a hundred or so years of ruining lives and communities, Daniel returned to Hogwarts, where she took up the job of Defense Against the Darks Arts teacher. Getting herself a house in the south of England, she lived a relatively peaceful un-life. 

"Daniel?" said a voice. Jerking out of her memories, Daniel turned quickly. Draco was standing at the foot of the stairs, wearing his ridiculous green pajamas. "Can't sleep?" he asked kindly, walking over and sitting genially beside her. She shook her head, still uneasy from the dream. "Did you have a nightmare?" he asked, yet looking surprised when she nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked feebly, a look of concern softening his pointy features. Daniel screwed her eyes shut tight. Perhaps Draco thought she was going to cry, because he shifted in his seat and wrapped his arms around her. Letting him hug her, she leaned gently on his chest, feeling his heart beating under her cheek. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, his arms still tightly around her. Daniel nodded. Her head rested in the hollow of his neck, and Draco could feel her eyelashes tickling him. He wondered what she could have dreamed of to make her so placid, she felt weak. He leaned back slightly, resting on the arm of the chair. Daniel shifted so she was half-lying on him. Her head rested squarely over his heart. One of her arms was lying around his chest, her hand lying limply at his side. Draco realized she was on the verge of dropping off. Waking her slowly, he walked with her to the foot of the stairs. "You better get some sleep before tomorrow." He said lightly, his corners of his mouth curling faintly. 

"I will." She said hoarsely, trying to return the half-smile. 

"Are you sure you're ok?" Draco looked genuinely concerned. 

"I'll be fine." She replied. 

**Slightly longer than the last few, and I hoped you liked it. **

**Xanadan**


	15. Tangled Up In Blue

I've realised I need to put disclaimers on this. But I know I don't own anything of great value anyway so there's no point in suing me. I might like to borrow some of the characters sometime, though, but I don't own them. Darn.

"All you gotta do is try.

Pray you'll just get by."

'Ain't it the Life'

Foo Fighters

The morning dawned with a rude shaft of light shining right in her face. Turning over, Daniel looked at a clock on the wall. It was a quarter to nine. The task started at half nine, so she got out of bed and got dressed. Still a bit shaken from the dream she had the night before, she decided to skip breakfast. 

Wandering towards Severus' office, she heard a loud screech on the other side of the door. Alexander was attempting to make tea the muggle way, and had dropped the boiling hot tea bag on his bare foot. 

Kicking it off clumsily, he hopped about on one foot and added the milk. 

"Good morning Daniel." He said in a pained voice, sitting down with a circular scald mark on his foot. "You look a bit strange. Are you alright?" sipping the tea and rubbing his foot, Alexander did not look like someone you could have an intelligent conversation with. 

"Had a dream last night." She answered, conjuring a cappuccino from thin air. The caffeine would keep her wired until the task was over. Alexander had a limited knowledge of the kind of dreams she had. Severus knew nothing, the reasoning behind that was to keep him form worrying. Which he would. In excess. "Just freaked me out a bit. Haven't had one in ages." Alexander put his tea on the table. 

"It was probably because you were worried about today." He looked at her closely, as though the dream was projected on her forehead. 

"I forgot to clear my mind before I went to sleep. That's probably why. I was pretty pissed off at Pansy Parkinson." Alexander stood up and went into the bedroom to get dressed. It was a quarter past nine. 

Emerging again, dressed in Muggle jeans and a black shirt, Alexander dragged a comb through his hair. 

"Come on. We'd better be off." He said, shooing her out the door. Locking the door behind him, he pocketed the keys and walked beside her to the lakeside. 

"Stop worrying." She said quietly. 

"Stop looking inside my head. And I can't help worrying." Little scenarios were playing out in Alexander's head. All of which involved a dead Severus. "You better get him out of there first. He'll be mad if he finds out he came in last." Smiling, Daniel and Alexander stepped out into the crisp air. Alexander went off to sit beside Madame Pomfrey, and Daniel went over to Fleur and Krum. 

"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around for him. 

"I haven't seen him." Krum replied moodily, shivering slightly, because he was standing in a pair of Speedos on a cold spring morning. Fleur was wearing lighter robes, that wouldn't weigh her down as much. Harry rocketed down the hill and came to a mud splattered halt in front of them. 

"Sorry I'm late." He gasped, clutching a handful of Gillyweed. 

"Good idea Harry." Daniel commented, "Gillyweed grows gills on your neck, so don't be surprised if you can't breathe." She grinned at him, as Ludo Bagman spaced them out along the bank. His magnified voice rang through the cold air and when he said, 'START!' Harry, Fleur and Krum ran into the water. Daniel kicked off her shoes and her robe. Wearing a thin shirt and light trousers, she waded into the water until her feet left the bottom. Harry was standing waist high in the water. Then as though an invisible knife had sliced his throat, two gashes appeared, and he thought for a second before plunging into the water. Sinking beneath the water, Daniel could see him look at his webbed fingers, before  swimming off. Starting swimming herself, Daniel kicked powerfully, and soon she was almost flying through the water. Keeping about 10 feet off the bottom, she headed into the depths. The shimmering shoals of fish darted out of her way, and Grindylows kept keen eyes on her. Swimming for what seemed like ages, she finally came across some scattered huts on the bed of the lake. A merman swam past her, into the town. Following him, she cams across a sort of town center, with Gillyweed planted like trees. There was a statue of a huge merman made from solid stone right in the middle of a throng of merpeople. They turned around when they saw her, and laughed mockingly. Tied to the curved tail of the mermaid were Ron, Hermione, Severus, and a small girl with clouds of blondish hair floating around her. They all looked as though they were in a very deep sleep. Pulling a switchblade out of her pocket, Daniel made towards the statue. Harry swam out of the blackness. Waving, he dived to the floor and picked up a sharpish stone. Rising again, he stopped when he saw Severus. Looking shocked, he carefully avoided slicing Ron open as he tried cutting through the rope binding them to the stone. Handing him the switchblade, she watched as he carefully cut the thick rope. Cutting Severus free, she grabbed onto his wrist, pocketed the switchblade and swam off. Fighting her way towards the light dancing on the surface of the lake, Daniel didn't notice a tentacle wrap around her leg. When she stopped moving, she glanced down, and was greeted with the sight of a giant squid pulling her into its sharp beaked mouth. Fighting against the tentacle, the little hooks in the suckers dragged into her skin, whipping out the switchblade, Daniel hacked off the tentacle. Shaking it off, and trying to swim with one leg, she made a new try for the surface. Just before she reached the top of the water, she cast the Bubblehead charm on herself. Breaking the surface, she swam towards the shore, where Madame Pomfrey rushed forward with towels. Fleur Delacour was sitting crying on a bench. Severus coughed into life. Staring around him, he looked as though he didn't quite know where he was. Standing up, his robes clung to him, and his hair was plastered on his head, making him look like a disgruntled pipe cleaner. Ushering them both into the sheltered tent where Fleur was sitting, Madame Pomfrey wrapped them both in thick blankets. 

"I wish you didn't like me so much." Said Severus, shivering. Madame Pomfrey forced him to take some Pepper-Up Potion, which he complained about at great length. "What happened your leg?" he asked, leaning down to look at it. 

"The giant squid tried to keep me underwater." She answered vaguely, looking at Krum be un-transformed from shark man. As Madame Pomfrey took care of the scratches on her leg, she talked to Severus about what had happened the previous night. 

"So how'd you get underwater?" Daniel asked. 

"Dumbledore gathered all of us at the lakeside, and then he explained that he'd be casting a simple charm and that none of us would die." Glancing at Harry dragging Ron and the blond girl out of the water, Severus elaborated. "He wasn't entirely convincing. The French one's sister cried for ages." He whispered, gesturing at Fleur hugging the soaking wet blond girl. "If I'd known I was going underwater I'd have dressed differently." 

"Aren't you flattered that she loves you enough that you'd be the thing she misses the most?" Alexander said, grinning broadly. 

"When I found out I was going into the lake I was slightly flattered, yes, but I wish I hadn't." he said, shivering with enthusiasm. 

Friday afternoon was always a tense time in Hogwarts. Both teachers and students wanted it to end so they could get to the weekend. Double Potions did not help.

A new article was in Witch Weekly about Harry. Apparently, Hermione was leading on Harry, when really she was going out with Krum. Hermione found the whole thing ridiculous. From her seat in potions, Daniel could see them laugh it off and put the offending magazine away. Mixing her potion distractedly, she had made it hundreds of times before, she decided to annoy Severus. He had been tetchy ever since the second task. Apparently he took it as an insult for the school to know he was loved by someone. Imagining Dumbledore dancing the Macarena, she took great delight at the change in expression on his face. Looking at her dangerously, he started walking around the room. Stopping Dumbledore for a minute, she tried to think of something that would annoy him more. A ha! She envisioned Professor Mc Gonagall doing a striptease with a pink feather boa. Severus nearly walked into a chair, much to the delight of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Snape walked over to them, inspecting their potions carefully, trying to find faults. Pulling the magazine out, Snape promptly took points off them and read it out, adding his own little comments every now and again. He rolled up the magazine and separated the three Gryffindors. Harry moved up to the front, the whole class watching him. As Severus walked past her, he whacked her with the rolled up magazine. "Mc Gonagall? That's revolting." He hissed. Smiling, Daniel turned back to her potion.

The next day was a Hogsmeade visit, and Daniel was wandering aimlessly around town. Coming to the end of the street, she noticed a black dog lying in the sun on the other side of the stile. Going over to see him, Daniel snuck up behind him. Waking him with a shout, the dog leapt up. Seeing it was her, the dog wagged it's tail furiously, licking her face. 

"How're you doing Sirius?" she asked quietly, scratching his ears. The dog lay on the ground at her feet and she tickled his belly, teasing him about being smelly and dirty. Picking up a stout stick, Daniel threw it a few feet in front of her. Sirius gave her a look as though to say, 'you threw it, you get it'. Giving in, he jumped up and brought it back. Throwing it farther this time, Sirius scrambled after it and laid it at her feet. "Is Harry coming to see you today?" she asked and noted the nod the dog returned. Glancing down the street, she saw the three Gryffindors walking towards them. She petted the dog one last time, and Disapparated. 

**Well. Chapter 15. Bit short, but I'm not quite sure of how long they can be. **

**Xanadan**


	16. Fighting Talk

Chapter 16. This has taken a while to get up as I was off on a little holiday. Plus my Internet lead buggered up and I had no Internet for a week. 

'Hush hush darling, don't tell me cause it hurts.'__

Don't Speak

No Doubt

It was weird being a dog. Getting used to walking on four legs was difficult. Trotting round Sirius' cave, Daniel wished she had become a parrot or something easy. But a dog would have to do. She could hear Sirius and the three Gryffindors approaching. As Sirius bounded jovially into the cave with a Daily Prophet in his mouth, she saw the surprise register in his eyes. Harry, Ron and Hermione bowed to Buckbeak, and stared at her in mild surprise. 

"Did you get another pet, Sirius?" asked Ron, staring curiously at Daniel, who was disguised quite cleverly as a sleek, shiny Doberman. 

"Something like that, yeah." He replied, now in human form, and whistled to beckon her over. Scratching her ears roughly, he began talking to Harry. 

"What's she called?" asked Ron, who looked as though he didn't know whether to pet her or kick her.

"She won't bite, Ron." Sirius said, " I decided to call her Poker."

"Poker?" said Ron incredulously, stroking her back gingerly. She barked in response. 

"See? She knows her name."

Daniel remained lying on the floor during the conversation between Harry and Sirius. Ron and Hermione talked as well, but Harry had a lot of questions for Sirius. Occasionally, Sirius would throw her a bit of bread or a chicken bone. When they left, she turned back into a human. 

"That was unusual." Said Sirius blankly, staring at her in shock. "What possessed you to do that?" 

"Just felt like it." She replied, picking bits of chicken bone from between her teeth. "Wanted to see what you and Harry's relationship was like." Pausing again to pick her teeth clean, "Quite fascinating, actually." Glancing at her with an exasperated expression hanging on his thin face, he picked up the latest copy of the Daily Prophet. Flicking through it absentmindedly, he pottered about the cave for a bit, adjusting the piles of old newspapers lying around. 

"You should recycle those." She said, watching deluges of slaters flood out into the grass from under the papers. He made a strange little noise under his breath. "Are you alright?" Daniel asked, as he ran his hand through his hair for the fourth time. 

"Severus came to see me last night." He said quietly, sitting down opposite her. 

"What did he want?" she replied, surprised as Severus usually avoided Sirius like the plague. 

"Alexander was off somewhere so he came to give me some food."

Sirius laughed hoarsely. "Probably poisoned it or something."

"Did you two talk at all?" 

"A bit. I asked how you got on in the Second Task and he said you came out first. I take it he was the thing you'd miss the most?" he asked, sounding stung.

"He was. Is. Sirius…" she tried to answer him, but the look on his wasted face showed more emotion was there than he let on. "You should count yourself lucky you weren't there. You'd have been back in Azkaban." It came out a bit harsher than she intended. "He's family, Sirius. He's just about the only family I've got." She studied his face closely. He looked old. Older than Severus or Alexander, anyway. 

"I know." With obvious effort, he smiled. "You should have left him in the lake." Glaring, she shuffled about copies of the Daily Prophet. 

"You look a bit strange." He said questioningly, ignoring the look on her face.

"You know how to make a girl feel special." Daniel replied condescendingly. When he didn't take his oddly piercing glare off her face, she elaborated. "I had a dream before the Second Task." Shifting her gaze to not see his concern, she stood up and wandered idly over to Buckbeak. Petting the hippogriff's feathery neck, she felt Sirius wrap his arms around her waist and rest his head softly on her shoulder. Sirius was the only person other than herself who knew what exactly the dreams contained. Continuing to pet Buckbeak, who had his head turned around, looking at them with a single amber coloured eye, Daniel realised with a not unfamiliar start how warm he felt. His hands clasped over her stomach moved slightly, hugging her tighter. He hadn't shaved, and she could feel the stubble prickling her through her thin robes. He moved one of his hands and rested it instead on her hip. Looking round at him, she found he was looking back with a fiendishly hopeful glint in his eye. Weighing her options, those options being returning to the school, or staying a little longer with Sirius, or indeed going and having a drink in Madame Rosmerta's, she conceded to his wandering hands and turned slightly, pulling him into a kiss. A cough sounded from the entrance. Severus was standing there with a highly disgusted look on his face. Sirius cursed. Daniel smiled. "Are you coming in?" she asked politely, noticing the bag he was holding. Clearing his throat again, he stalked into the cave and bowed irritatedly to Buckbeak, who surveyed him contemptuously. 

"Alexander sent this." He stated harshly, wanting no part in aiding Sirius to exist. "But you may have already eaten." He added sourly, placing the bag on a rock. "You better get back up to the school." He said, looking pointedly at Daniel. Glancing apologetically at Sirius, who smiled faintly, Daniel followed Severus out of the cave. 

Walking quickly down the hill, they didn't talk. 

"I've caught you and Alexander at it loads of times." She stated, "and it was a hell of a lot worse than what you saw. The vast majority of the times I caught you two copulation was underway." Daniel said, looking up at him. 

"You don't need to remind me." He replied, staring round the streets of Hogsmeade. "But I don't think a cave is the ideal setting. Think of the injuries. Instead of carpet burn, there'd be rock burn." Smiling wickedly at the thought of Sirius with incredibly painful rock burn, Severus ignored the condescending look she gave him. 

"You could make an attempt at liking him." She said simply, the two of them getting closer to Hogwarts. 

"I _attempted _to like him the entire time we were at Hogwarts. And you know what he did?" he looked at her expectantly. 

"I haven't a clue."

"He told the entire school I fancied him. Teachers and all." He seethed for a while. "As if it wasn't hard enough for me at Hogwarts without everyone calling me a faggot!" he nearly screamed, ignoring the perplexed looks of a few sixth years. 

"That's how you met Alexander, though. He heard that you were gay and got interested. So did you, if you remember." She placated sardonically, still feeling the anger almost radiating off him. 

Walking quietly to the doors of the school, apparently a little embarrassed about his outburst, Severus parted without a word and went to the staff room. Staring after him for a bit, she turned and strode briskly to the Slytherin Common Room. 

"Daniel!" called a too-familiar voice. Turning on her heel, Draco looked a bit flustered. "Can I talk to you?" Rolling in her eyes, she followed him into the showers, yet again. 

"Is this important?" she snapped, feeling tired and hungry. 

"Well, I got a letter from my father today, and…" he stopped. Her eyes had wandered, apparently of their own accord; beneath his pointed chin and rested longingly on his neck. Noticing his pause, she snapped her head up. Rubbing her eyes roughly, she made an attempt at an apology. "It's ok, um, I suppose you're just a bit, er, hungry, then?" Nodding, Daniel saw a trace of fear jump about his face. 

"Well, it's just that, my father knows you're here. At Hogwarts. And he's not too happy." Draco surveyed her face closely, making Daniel feel a bit too scrutinized. 

"And what?" she said harshly, annoyed at him for no good reason. 

"He says he'll have you taken out of Hogwarts if you don't stop coming into contact with me." He said the last few words with a weird look on his face. 

"You told him." She hissed. "You told him I bit you, I warned about this Draco!" she snarled, her voice rising slightly. A look of pure terror raced across his face and he spun around to open the door. Just as he reached the handle, her strangely elongated fingers clamped onto his upper arms and pulled him back. As she shoved him onto the floor, he saw little flashes of his life flicker on the ceiling. His first broom, watching his father's face light up with pride as he raced around the grounds, remembering their family holiday in Italy, and visiting the ancient ruins, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. His first day at Hogwarts. His mother sobbing as she waved goodbye, and his father writing daily letters, asking him everything about his wonderful new school. He was flat on his back, not even attempting to struggle. Daniel froze. Not wanting to look at her, he thought about everything he'd miss, and he began to cry. 

**Hmm. Sorry about the 'life flashing before your eyes' thing but as I'm sure we all realize by now, nearly anything can happen at Hogwarts.**

**Including horribly corny flashbacks. The Green Giant would be out of business. Hee hee.**

**Xanadan**


	17. Nothing Like Breaking A Blonde

**Chapter 17. Needless to say, since the last chapter was no. 16.**

**I own nothing relating to Harry Potter. Except the trivia game.**

"You're the one who's always, choking Trojan.

You're the one who's always, bruised and broken.

Drunk on immorality,

Valium and Cherry wine."

Placebo      "Commercial for Levi" 

Daniel could feel his chest constricting as he sobbed beneath her. He was staring resolutely at the ceiling, tears flowing down the sides of his head. Taking one of his hands in hers, she snapped one of his metacarpals. Yelping in pain, he stared at her in shock out of bloodshot eyes. 

"Don't" crack "ever" crack "betray" crack "me again." She hissed, crushing the delicate bones in his hand, ignoring his whimpers of pain. 

His hand was beginning to swell. Moving her hands up his arm, Daniel disregarded his frantic pleadings and skillfully splintered his radius and ulna in one go. He screamed in pain. Snapping a hand over his mouth, she gave him a silent warning to shut up, and squeezed his fractured wrist. He tried to throw her off, but she remained resolutely on top of him. Placing a hand on his upper arm, she gave him a chance to quieten down, and then flicked his whole broken arm around and a sickening 'pop' resounded around the tiles. Letting him sit up, she watched him nurse his broken and dislocated arm; every racking sob making it hurt more. He looked at her with an expression not much removed from a child whose ice cream has fallen in the dirt, and stood up awkwardly. His injured arm hung heavily from his swollen shoulder, and he made towards the door. As he passed Daniel, he avoided her gaze, and was not entirely surprised when she stopped him. "You're going to the Hospital Wing. And you're going to say you fell down the Dormitory stairs." It was an order. A very direct order. "And if you ever do that to me again, I'll break every single bone in your scheming little body." Considering him for a minute, she slammed a fist into his ribs twice. Choking on the pain, Draco leaned against the door, shining eyes asking for an explanation. "You'd hurt considerably more than your arm if you fell down the stairs." She said simply, and exited the room and went to her dormitory. 

Needless to say, Draco avoided her over the next few days. He had gone to the Hospital Wing, recited what Daniel had told him to say, and got the bones mended. He still had bruises though. Pansy nearly had a fit when he told her he'd fallen down the stairs. He glanced nervously at Daniel when he fussed over his arm, and nearly fainted when she smiled sweetly at him, canines flashing. 

At breakfast a few days later, Draco watched Hermione run out of the hall, cradling her hands. As his eyes followed her path out of the Hall, they met with Daniel's, and he quickly looked back at his breakfast, which was getting cold. 

"Not hungry Draco?" Daniel purred, leaning over the table towards him. He shook his head jerkily. "Well I am." She said slowly, picking a slice of bacon off his plate and eating it. Draco's hands clenched around his knife and fork, before he threw them down and walked quickly out of the hall. 

"What's going on?" said a familiar voice, the sound coming from somewhere between her ears. 

"He told Lucius about me biting him." She thought, looking up at the Staff table to see the expression on his face. Snape was white.

"And?" he hissed, staring at his plate. 

"And I broke his arm." Daniel replied, draining a goblet of pumpkin juice. 

"I need to talk to you. Tonight." He thought quietly, while talking animatedly to Mc Gonagall. 

"It's a date."

Trudging to his office after a highly enjoyable Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Daniel passed a set of quarrelling suits of armor, and reluctantly knocked on Snape's door. It was opened quickly. Alexander ushered her inside, looking quite peculiar in a set of faded red dungarees. He grinned wickedly at her as she sat down. 

"He's really pissed off." He whispered, settling himself as Severus entered the room. Sitting opposite her on a threadbare sofa, he cleared his throat and began. 

"You do know you'll be killed." He said sharply, arms crossed over his chest. 

"No I won't." she said calmly. "It's happened before Severus, and unless I missed something, I haven't been killed." She replied. 

Alexander grinned again. 

"Whose side are you on!" shrieked Snape unexpectedly, making Alexander jump slightly. Rolling his eyes, Alexander stood up and plonked himself beside Snape, who looked livid. 

"Lucius Malfoy sent me an owl stating clearly that he would make sure you were exterminated." His voice rose slightly. "He has also asked me to ensure that you were removed from the Slytherin dorms. Away from Draco. But, Dumbledore has had talks with him, and he has agreed to let you stay under the condition that you stay away from Draco." He looked as though he was going to shout again, until Alexander lay down on the length of the sofa, his head resting in Severus' lap. Daniel smiled. Alexander always knew how to shut him up. Snape looked quite uncomfortable, and he didn't say anything for a while. "As there are no spare rooms that anything would even dream of sleeping in," (Snape deemed anything that hadn't been drenched in Domestos positively unfit for human habitation) "you will stay here for the time being." He finished awkwardly, gesturing around him. Alexander giggled, and turned his head to look at her. 

"You won't sleep much." He laughed loudly, "Because we don't."

The aforementioned arrangements went well for about a day, until the silencing charm malfunctioned and Daniel nearly killed Alexander, thinking that the screams issuing from the sleeping area meant that someone was being brutally tortured. Severus bellowed blue murder at her, while she stumbled around, trying to get out of the room with both hands clamped over her eyes. Howling in disgust when she stood on something rubbery and slimy, she kicked it off her foot and went back to the sofa, trying not to re-envision what she had seen. But it was hard, as she was very curious as to how Alexander trained himself to bend that way. 

One Sunday afternoon at the end of May, the Champions were summoned to the Quidditch Pitch. Walking down the stone steps, Daniel was joined by Harry. 

"Hello." He said enthusiastically. Strolling down the dark lawn towards the barely visible Quidditch pitch, the warm air gave the night a strange feeling. 

"How's Sirius?" she asked, staring at the murky darkness of the Forbidden forest. Harry stumbled. 

"What?" he hissed, staring at her in amazement. Smiling shrewdly, she changed quickly into the black Doberman and back again. 

"You?" he breathed, he had stopped completely now. 

"Yeah." She glanced at the pitch. "We better get going."

"But…" 

"I'll talk to you later, Harry. Or ask Sirius. Maybe he'd prefer to tell you."

Jogging the rest of the way, Harry remained thunderstruck through Ludo Bagman telling them about the third task. Smiling faintly at Harry as he walked off with Krum, Daniel returned to Severus' office, where Alexander was eating a Pumpkin Pasty and reading a large gilded book. 

"Where's Severus?" she asked, glancing around quickly. 

"Off to see Dumbledore. He's worried about something." Alexander answered, looking up briefly from his book. Sitting down beside him, she took the trunk out from under the sofa and removed a bag of blood. Looking at it with a disgusted expression on his face, he coughed loudly so he wouldn't hear her drinking it. 

"I'm not making any noise!" she said irritatedly, slurping the rest of it to spite him. Throwing the empty bag into the bin opposite, she summoned a random book from the bookcase and began reading. 

"Look at this…" she said softly, picking up the pictures that had fallen out from between the dusty pages. There were about twenty photographs, all taken when Severus was younger. Five of them were taken when he was very young, seven or eight years old. He had short, cropped hair, and was smiling fiendishly at the camera. In one of them, he was sitting on a chintz chair, petting a huge dog that was sitting on the floor beside him. On the back of it, Daniel recognized her own scrawled writing, _'Severus and Leonard'_. 

"Who's Leonard?" asked Alexander stupidly.

"His dog. Got ran over about a month after that was taken." She answered quietly. She had no idea he still had these. 

Picking up another one, a photograph in which Severus (about 16) and Daniel were standing in front of a Christmas tree, Alexander commented on how similar they looked, angular, dark-featured and slightly drunk looking. Turning it over, she had written on the back,

_'Apple doesn't fall far from the tree'. _

"Look at this one!" Alexander hissed, shoving a dog-eared photograph under her nose. Severus and Alexander were standing chatting amiably, wearing Hogwarts robes, and then they noticed their audience, and grinned, waving madly. Severus stopped smiling for a minute to give Alexander a kiss on the cheek, and Alexander blushed and looked nicely embarrassed. 

On the back was Severus' writing, _'Alexander and I after graduation'_

Smiling faintly, Alexander took the photograph and looked at it closely, and set it down gently, as if it would break if he did otherwise. 

**Sorry about being late with this, but I have been quite busy recently. I re-read the OotP, and was so infuriated by Severus being bullied by Sirius I wrote Krieg. Please read. And review. I'd really appreciate it. I would. Really. **

**Xanadan. **


	18. Nicht Gut Blut

I don't know if you noticed, but I dropped a really big hint in the last chapter about the relationship between Daniel and Severus. Unless you've already figured it out. If you have, good for you. I only finally decided on the nature of said relationship last week. 

Waking up the next morning, Daniel stared at the ceiling for a full two hours until the damp stone no longer interested her. Getting up reluctantly, she walked quietly into the bedroom part of the office, and through to the shower room. Showering under water that she knew was too hot, she heard stirrings in the bedroom and hesitated slightly in returning to her sofa. Severus still wasn't meeting her eye after last time. Opening the door a fraction, she saw the figures in the bed were, thankfully, unmoving. 

Tip-toeing across the tiles, avoiding the many items of clothing that lay about the floor required all of her stealth, considering as it was 8 in the morning. Alexander mumbled something in his sleep and shifted slightly. Turning slowly, she made sure he was still asleep, and shut the door softly behind her. 

Hoking through the various jars and containers that littered the office, Daniel found a miserable-looking teabag and glanced around for a cup. As she stretched to lift a cup off a high shelf, a sharp jolt of pain shot through her abdomen. Bent double against the wall, she wasn't aware of having made any noise, but Alexander was instantly crouching beside her, calling for Severus. The pain was almost unbearable. Her stomach seemed to be twisting to get out, tying itself in knots. Alexander stared at her in horror, and she was vaguely aware of blood dotting the front of her clothes. Severus had the case with her blood in it open besides her, looking quickly at the labels on the bags, he screwed one open and smelt it. Coughing in disgust, he handed it to Alexander, who sniffed halfheartedly at it. He said something to Severus, who nodded, and then the whole scene blurred out of focus. 

Waking with a start, Daniel glanced around the room. She was aware of talking somewhere to her right, and tried to look for the source of the voices. 

"It appears the blood was contaminated." Said a calm voice. Dumbledore's office. That's where she was. The old headmasters and mistresses stared interestedly down at her from their fancy frames. 

"Well it's obvious who set all this up!" shrieked a less calm voice. Severus, of course. The ability to keep calm under pressure had always avoided him. Not that she was good at keeping her temper in check.

"It is? Severus?" replied Dumbledore, still calm and reserved.  That would annoy him. 

"The man who traffics the blood is Lucius Malfoy's nephew! And Lucius said he'd kill her!" shouted Severus in a very shrill voice. That always happened when he was pissed off. 

"But Daniel received the blood a long time ago." Answered Dumbledore, and a shuffling noise indicated he had got to his feet. "Long before Daniel decided to 'discipline' Mr. Malfoy." She heard the footsteps approaching. The darkness she was viewing darkened further as he bent over her. He lifted one of her eyelids gently. It took a huge effort to try to focus. "Welcome back Daniel." He said kindly. Quick footsteps. 

"Are you alright?" Severus demanded, looking at her suspiciously. She closed her eyes again. The lights were too bright. 

"Maybe Lucius just wanted to make her suffer a bit." Said Alexander's contemplative voice from across the room. 

"What do you mean?" asked Severus, although she was sure he was still looking at her. 

"Well, he's not really that fond of her now, is he? And I bet he'd love to hurt her a lot without being obviously responsible. He could blame it on dodgy blood cleansing or something. And he's in Wiltshire, so he's a good safe distance away." Severus and Dumbledore thought about this. After a while, Dumbledore sent them out, as he was meeting the Minister for Magic about the Mr. Crouch incident. Daniel remained lying on the sofa. Her head was spinning as though she'd rolled down a hill. She hadn't moved for the past few hours. Daniel heard Cornelius Fudge comment on her presence, but Dumbledore assured him that she was asleep, and not, in fact, listening keenly to every single word. 

Then the office went quiet as they filed out to search the grounds. But footsteps sounded uncertainly around the room. Lifting an eyelid, she saw Harry Potter looking curiously at her over the back of the sofa. 

She smiled feebly in greeting. 

"You don't look too good." He commented, sitting on the arm of the sofa. She shook her head. "What's wrong with you?" he asked, and she gestured at her stomach and then grimaced. He nodded knowingly. Clicking her fingers for his attention, she motioned for a glass of water from the jug on a side table. Raising herself up a bit, the bitter taste in her throat was washed away by the cold liquid. 

"How're you?" she croaked, finishing the glass. 

"Alright." She knew he was bursting to talk about Sirius. 

"Have you heard from Sirius?" she asked, easing herself up some more. 

"Yeah. He warned me to stay out of trouble and not to wander off with foreigners." She smiled.

"Exactly the opposite of what he would have done." Daniel grinned, noting the 'don't I know it' look on his otherwise worried face. 

Steeling herself against the dull ache in her stomach, she stood up quickly, and to Harry's great surprise, fell down just as fast.

Short, I know, but the next one will be longer. I'm trying to clear this one up. At least writing Krieg has kept me halfway insane. 

**Thanks so much for all the reviews. **

**Xanadan**


	19. Don't Say Goodbye

Hello, again, and it's nearly chapter 20. But it's chapter19 now, so I'll get on with that. 

**Gonzo is 1 year old today! (1st August) If you don't know what Gonzo is, you must be a slug or something. **

**Zane Lowe, Aww, those quirky marsupials. **

"I met a man, locked away 

For things he hadn't done.

Innocence on a ball and chain.

He'll never feel the sun

Again on his face or roses 

In his hands but when he smiled 

At me I could understand."

Audioslave       'Exploder' 

Harry stood there, watching the prone form of Daniel lie awkwardly on the sofa. Her chest rose and fell slowly, and she didn't seem to be hurt. 

"Don't worry about her lad, she's been doing that all day." Said a voice from above him. A portrait was staring at him, a sympathetic look on her face. "She'll be fine." Nodding gratefully, Harry glanced around the room, and a tremendously shiny object inside a cabinet immediately caught his attention. Walking softly over to it, he saw it was a roughly hewn stone bowl, filled with swirly white liquid, or was it gas? Lifting it out and setting it on a side table, Harry stared down at it, to his surprise; he seemed to have an aerial view of an huge stone room. He put his head closer, and the tip of his nose touched it, and everything around him jumped suddenly. He was sitting in the room he had observed from above. Rows of witches and wizards were sitting staring into the middle of the room, where a huge chair was placed, chains hanging menacingly around the arms. Suddenly, the door opened, and the room went completely silent. Two Dementors entered, a man walking between them. Harry let out a gasp that echoed around the room slightly. It was Snape. He was wearing robes that were obviously new, and was looking around the room with a strangely bored expression on his face. Sitting in the chair, the chains didn't move to bind him, but merely clinked a bit. Mr. Crouch, who was looking very alert and disdainful, although his hair was slightly grey, stood up. 

"Severus Snape, you are here to give the Minsitry of Magic inside information about the Dark Lord's supporters, in exchange for your protection from the Death Eaters?" he stated, reading off a piece of parchment. 

"Yes." Snape answered curtly, he obviously didn't like Crouch.

"I take it this is information we haven't heard before?" Crouch sneered. Sneering back, Snape nodded. Harry sat in silence as Snape talked for what seemed like hours about rallying points, secret operations, places all over the country where Muggles were taken and tortured, and finally, about the inner circle of the Death Eaters. 

The witches and wizards murmured appreciatively, scribbling notes, and listening intently to what Snape was talking about. Even Mr. Crouch looked impressed. When he finished talking, Snape lounged back in the chair, surveying Mr. Crouch with intense satisfaction. 

"Well. The vast majority of that information was unknown to us." Muttered Crouch, although the whole room could hear him. "But you, Snape, are a Death Eater. Who has wandered willingly into our midst." Snape looked as though he'd been slapped. "And the penalty for being a Death Eater, especially one who has served the Dark Lord for as long as you, is life imprisonment in Azkaban." He clicked his fingers, and the chains glowed gold and snapped around Snape's arms. 

There was movement beside Harry, and he turned and saw that Dumbledore had stood up. 

"Mr. Crouch?" he said softly, and the whole room went quiet again. Snape looked at Dumbledore suspiciously. 

"Yes Dumbledore?" snapped Crouch. 

"Perhaps Mr. Snape would prefer to work for the Minsitry now." Only a strange sort of squeak from Snape broke the silence that followed. 

"What do you mean?" asked Crouch, turning around fully to face Dumbledore. 

"What I mean, Barty, is that Mr. Snape could work as a spy for the Minsitry, liaising with the Death Eaters and then informing the Minsitry about their goings-on." Crouch turned to face Snape, who was nearly crying with relief. Approving murmurs from the surrounding witches and wizards echoed around the room. 

"Unless, of course, you would have any objections to that, Mr. Snape?" Snape shook his head furiously. 

"Very well." Said Crouch, obviously irritated. The chains binding Snape loosened and fell away. "When you haves news to report, you will owl me directly. Do you understand?" Crouch snarled. Nodding joyously, Snape stood up, and was dismissed. 

The room gave another lurch. 

There were two chairs in front of him now. Mr. Crouch's hair was almost completely grey. The door swung open again. Four Dementors entered. Harry gasped again. Two Dementors were leading Sirius towards the chair. The other two were half leading, half carrying the limp form of Daniel, who they placed unceremoniously into the chair, which bound her instantly. Thick chains snaked around her arms and chest, yet her head slumped forward. She seemed barely conscious. Sirius, on the other hand, was looking very alert and aware. The chair had bound him also, but he seemed more concerned about Daniel, who wasn't moving. His hair was short. Almost as short as Harry's own, but was sitting quirkily on his head, bits sticking out everywhere, making him look like a highly dangerous porcupine. A witch stood up and went over to Daniel, Harry saw with a shock that it was Madame Pomfrey, and she lifted Daniel's head, looking carefully at her eyes. When we went back to her seat, she nodded at Crouch, who got to his feet. 

"Daniel Snape." He said firmly. Her eyes opened a fraction. "You are accused of tracking down and torturing four respected members of the Wizengamot, eventually killing three of them." He paused. She was laughing a slow, harsh laugh. "The charge amuses you?" he said, his voice rising slightly. Nodding laboriously, she opened her eyes fully, and stared right at Crouch. 

"I didn't know Death Eaters were respected by the Minsitry." She drawled croakily, breathing heavily. "He only got away because your Aurors interrupted me." She snarked, gesturing at someone behind Crouch. Harry looked to his right slightly. Lucius Malfoy was sitting beside Narcissa, who was cradling a bundle of blankets. 

"Lucius Malfoy is a highly influential member of decent wizarding society, and is not a Death Eater." Crouch hissed. 

"So influential you wouldn't even consider him to be a Death Eater?" she barked, and instantly, there was a streak of purple light and a gash appeared across her cheek, spattering her ragged robes with blood. Sirius immediately let loose with a stream of swear words directed at Mr. Crouch, not stopping when Crouch pointed his wand at him. The outburst seemed to have a lot of energy out of Daniel; she slumped against the back of the chair, although her eyes were still fixed on Crouch. 

"If they'd done to me what they did to her, I'd have killed them as well." Growled a voiced near Harry. Mad Eye Moody was watching the trial with a keen look on his scarred face.

Harry looked more closely at Daniel. Faded scars criss-crossed her arms, and there was a ghost of a bruise on her forehead. Sirius said something to her, and she smiled again, showing a few broken teeth. 

"No talking!" snapped Crouch. Sirius raised both his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out impishly at Crouch. 

"Snape!" he shouted. Daniel had lapsed into half-consciousness again. 

"You don't have to shout, Crouch. I can hear you if you talk normally." She replied quietly, not opening her eyes. 

Flustered, Crouch shuffled his papers. 

"Would you like to tell the room why you tortured four members of the Wizengamot and then killed three?" he asked, looking at her closely. 

"No." she answered. Crouch went puce.

"If you do not answer, your sentence will be doubled." He said angrily, his eyes narrowing. 

"She doesn't have to answer if she doesn't want to!" roared Sirius, almost as angry as Crouch. Several of the witches and wizards around Crouch agreed with Sirius, some with oddly sympathetic looks on their faces. 

"Very well." Said Crouch, livid. "Daniel Snape, you are charged with the torture and murder of three Wizengamot members, and the torture and attempted murder of another. How do you plead?"

"Guilty as hell." She answered, grinning wickedly. 

"I hereby sentence you to life imprisonment in Azkaban." He was steadily getter redder and redder with anger. 

"Whoo hoo!" Daniel exclaimed sarcastically. Crouch turned on Sirius.

"Sirius Black, you are charged with the murder of Peter Pettigrew, and the manslaughter of 12 innocent muggles. You are also charged with leaking information to the Dark Lord as to the whereabouts of James and Lily Potter. How do you plead?" Crouch looked fanatical.

"Not guilty." Sirius whispered in response, eyes shimmering. The surrounding witches and wizards looked expectantly at Crouch, waiting for more questions.

"You are sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban." Crouch said triumphantly, and sat down. 

"What about the trial?" screamed Sirius, tears streaming down his face. 

"There will be no trial." Answered Crouch coldly, and summoned the Dementors. Daniel looked blankly at Crouch, and then at Sirius, who was staring at the floor, still crying. The Dementors pulled them out of their chairs, and the combined shock of Sirius not getting a trial, and having to stand up, caused Daniel to collapse heavily onto the hard stone floor. Sirius broke out of the Dementor's grasp and rushed forwards. Several members of the 'audience' stood up and pointed their wands directly at Sirius. He crouched on the floor beside her, talking softly. 

"Take them away!" bellowed Crouch. The Dementors wrenched Sirius away from Daniel, and pulled him, kicking and screaming and swearing, out of the room. The other two lifted Daniel off the floor, and dragged her out. The room dissolved into angry talking. Some were angry with Daniel and Sirius, some were angry at Crouch. 

"It'll be alright." Said a kind voice beside him. Dumbledore was looking straight past him, at a man Harry hadn't noticed. He had his head in his hands, longish black hair obscuring his face from view, and his thin chest was heaving with muffled sobs.

"It's work out o.k, Severus. Crouch will see sense."

Bit longer than previous chapters. I suppose I shouldn't be saying this here, but if anyone has anything they'd like to happen between Snape and the Marauders, for documentation in Krieg, you can e-mail or IM me about it. E-mail address is in my bio. 

**Danke schön.**

**Xanadan    **


	20. The Unforgiven

Chapter 20. Wow. I didn't ever think it would last this long. And more, of course. But 20 chapters. Wow. 

"So close, no matter how far, 

Couldn't be much more from the heart.

Forever trusting who we are

No nothing else matters."

Metallica            'Nothing Else Matters'

It seemed, however, that Crouch did not see sense. Harry was treated to viewing several appeals for her release, one of which ended in Snape throwing a hissy fit and screaming obscenities at Crouch. 

Needless to say, Crouch was not impressed. 

After that, Harry witnessed Crouch interrogate Karkaroff and Bagman, and then watched in horror as he sentenced his own son to Azkaban. As the Dementors led out Barty Crouch Jr., crying and pleading his innocence, the room gave another lurch, and Harry was watching the Dementors lead Daniel back into the room. 

Looking to his left, Harry saw that Snape was sitting beside him again, as well as a man Harry hadn't seen before. Ruffled black hair fell around his cheekbones, and he kept glancing at Snape. As Daniel sat down in the chair, it bound her again, and Cornelius Fudge stood up instead of Crouch. Her eyes were open, but unfocused. Staring dazedly at him, she listened as he addressed her, with a slight apologetic tone in his voice. 

"Daniel Snape, in light of new information regarding the former members of the Wizengamot, the three that you were sentenced for killing believing them to be Death Eaters, the Ministry of Magic has decided to release you from Azkaban. Said members were, in fact, Death Eaters at the time of their," he coughed "deaths."

Snape exhaled thankfully, grinning at Dumbledore, who smiled back. 

Daniel was released by the chair, but remained seated. Fudge, who perhaps expected her reasons, said softly, "There has been no new information about the death of James and Lily Potter clearing Black's name." She nodded understandingly, and got shakily to her feet. The witches and wizards stood up and began filing out. Snape leapt to his feet and clambered over a few seats to get to Daniel. 

A ghost of a smile flittered over her face as she saw him. He pulled her into a hug, and she emerged smiling. Dumbledore and the other man walked over to them, Snape still with his arm around her. 

"Congratulations Daniel." Dumbledore said, eyeing her closely. "You see Severus, I told you it would work out alright."

"Yeah, but it's been 10 years." Snape answered huffily, still not letting go of Daniel, who was looking at the strange man. "Oh, Daniel, this is Alexander." Snape said quickly, slightly hyperactive with happiness. He jumped between them, "Alexander, Daniel, Daniel, Alexander." He rattled off, looking nervous and ecstatic at the same time. 

"Nice to meet you, Ms., um, Snape." Alexander said anxiously, shaking her hand. 

"You too." She answered. "Do you have a surname?" 

"Dylan." He replied, looking sideways at Snape, who grinned stupidly. 

"Well now that we all know each other, why don't we return to Hogwarts. Daniel, I'm sure you're tired." Said Dumbledore. 

"What month is it?" she asked, looking around as they exited the room. 

"July." Answered Dumbledore, "Young Potter is starting Hogwarts in September."

"Oh. How's he been getting on?" she asked, expressing a keen interest. 

"Just fine. He has no idea he's a wizard, though." Dumbledore said smiling. Harry followed them out of the Ministry, and emerged into a warm summer night. Alexander inhaled deeply, savoring the smell outside of the stuffy Ministry. Dumbledore stuck out his right arm, and nearly got it clipped off by the Knight Bus. Paying the driver, Alexander bounded down the aisle like an excited child and plopped himself on a double bed. Rolling his eyes, Snape followed. Daniel chose a single bed, and almost immediately fell asleep. Dumbledore sat on the end of Severus and Alexander's bed, and began talking. Alexander looked put out, but joined in the conversation. 

"It will take her a while to get used to being back in society." Dumbledore explained, while Snape listened intently, and Alexander stared at her as though she would lapse into a psychopathic killing spree at any moment. 

"What do you think of her?" Snape asked him, with a smile playing about his face. 

"I think she's cool." Answered Alexander. Dumbledore spotted someone at the other end of the bus he knew, and went to talk to them. Alexander looked sneakily at Snape. 

"On a bus?" said Snape, incredulous. Alexander whispered what Harry was sure were obscenities, and Snape looked mildly interested, until Dumbledore rejoined them. 

"I think it's time you went Harry." Said Dumbledore. Harry glanced down the bus. Dumbledore was seated there, too. He heard a squeal from behind him. He turned, and nearly fainted. From the looks of it, Snape had been kneed in the stomach as Alexander tried to fight him into lying down, the two of them kissing passionately all the while. Looking quickly at Dumbledore for an explanation, he found himself traveling very fast through  swirling lights. 

Landing on the office floor with a thud, Harry glanced over at Daniel, who was still incapacitated on the sofa. Taking a while to recover from the shock of it all, Harry suddenly remembered his manners.

Apologizing immediately for entering the Pensive, Harry sat down quickly and began listening to Dumbledore's perpetually calm voice explain what he thought his dream meant.

"Sir?" said Harry, looking at Dumbledore, "how could Daniel have been there?" Dumbledore looked at him with his characteristic piercing glare. 

"Have you not figured it out yet, Harry?" Dumbledore smiled, as though asking a particularly difficult riddle he already knew the answer to. 

"Well," Harry shrugged. "No."

"Daniel," Dumbledore said slowly, " is a vampire." Harry mulled this over for a while. 

"Really?" he asked weakly. Dumbledore nodded. "How does she know about Sirius?" he asked, remembering their conversation suddenly. 

"Daniel and Sirius have known each other for a very long time." Dumbledore said delicately. "I don't suppose Sirius has told you that she is your godmother?" Harry though his insides were dissolving, looking round at her, he looked back at Dumbledore in shock.

"Did she know my parents?" asked Harry quietly. 

"She was a close friend of your mother's. Your father and Daniel did not quite see eye to eye."

"Why not?" questioned Harry.

"Because your father and Professor Snape did not like each other at all. So, it was natural for Daniel and James to be opposed as well. Of course, your father could not disagree with your mother when she chose Daniel to be your godmother, after all, Lily and Sirius often had disagreements. They were friends, of course," he added, seeing Harry's worried look, " but they enjoyed arguing with each other. Much like Ron and Hermione." He finished with a smile. 

"Sir?" Harry asked tentatively, not sure of how he should word his question.

"Yes Harry?"

"Professor Snape,"

"Will make you eat your own eyeballs if you tell anyone." Dumbledore replied, smiling again. 

"Why would he be worried about people knowing? He was on a bus when…" he trailed off, not wanting to remember what he saw.

Dumbledore had stood up, and walked quickly over to Daniel, who was sitting up unsteadily. 

"How're you feeling?" asked Dumbledore, looking at her carefully.

"Better." She answered, looking round at Harry, who smiled nervously in return. 

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, scrutinizing him for signs of damage. 

"Nothing." He answered, glancing at Dumbledore, who was pouring her drink. Harry's stomach gave a lurch. Handing her the glass of thick, dark red liquid, Dumbledore winked at Daniel and gestured towards Harry. Sipping her drink, Daniel patted the seat beside her, and reluctantly, Harry sat down. 

"The Pensive's great isn't it?" she said, smiling over her glass. Harry nodded. "Severus is a bit of a hornball, isn't he?"

Harry refrained from comment. Grinning broadly, she finished off her drink just as the door opened. Harry wanted to disappear. 

Severus and Alexander had just walked in. Alexander looked different. His hair was cut roughly the same length as Harry's own. Snape eyed him suspiciously. Averting his gaze, Harry glanced around for Dumbledore. 

"Where's Dumbledore?" asked Alexander, peering around. Daniel smiled benignly around at all three of them. 

"What?" asked Snape, an intonation of dread in his voice. She didn't say anything, but Snape looked both horrified and amused. He muttered something to Alexander, who grinned, obviously humored. Harry wanted the couch to swallow him up. No one said anything for a while. 

"Harry?" queried Alexander, "if you had to choose between Severus and myself who would you choose? Just for a date, you know." 

"What?" shouted Harry and Snape together, looking at him with terrified expressions on their faces. Daniel giggled. Alexander smiled supremely. 

"Well?" 

"Potter, I forbid you to answer!" growled Snape, and Harry just remained thankful that Snape agreed with him. 

"I don't think he was going to." Said Daniel. 

"It is quite rude not to answer someone's question, Harry." Stated Dumbledore softly, stepping out of a side room. 

"But Sir…" pleaded Harry.

"Personally, I would prefer Severus." Answered Dumbledore, smiling at the look on Snape's face. Alexander laughed hysterically as Snape just looked as though he'd been whacked about the head. 

"Why's that, Sir?" asked Daniel innocently. 

"Shut up!" Snape hissed at her. 

"Well, I suppose because I've known Severus longer, although I'd have to stay off the Knight Bus." He answered, looking highly amused. 

Well. Chapter 20 done and dusted. I don't know how much longer this will last. For a good while, anyway. I want to get more of Krieg done. I have a few good ideas. Hee hee. 

**Xanadan**


	21. Somewhere I Belong

My sincere apologies for the late update, but seeing as I spilt an entire mug of tea over my keyboard, and then frantically stuck it under the tap to get the tea out from between the keys, I've had to wait a while to be trusted with a new one. It's the kind with the Internet buttons along the top of it. It's quite nice. For a keyboard, you know.

"I believe in a thing called Love.

Just listen to the rhythm of my heart.

There's a chance we could make it now. 

We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down."

"I Believe in a Thing Called Love"       The Darkness

Potions class after that were a very tense affair. Snape and Harry avoided all eye contact, and when the class was making a potion that greatly resembled olive oil, Snape announced that one of its many properties was lubrication. Harry nearly had a heart attack and Snape shouted needlessly, "In machines!" 

Walking distractedly towards Snape's office early the next day, Daniel thought she smelled something familiar. Dismissing it, she swung open the door and was greeted by a large, hairy black dog. She recognized it immediately as Sirius. 

"Hello doggy." She said softly, scratching his ears. 

"He's great isn't he?" said Severus, standing in the doorway, looking very much at ease with nothing but a (thankfully) knee-length shirt thing and socks on. Patting the dog on the head, he handed Daniel a small book.

"The Tiny Book of Curses." Was written on the front cover. "For the third task." He said, with an anxious look on his face. 

"Thanks." She replied, flicking through the delicate pages. 

"Look! Here's one that castrates people!" she announced excitedly, ignoring the sudden look of apprehension on Snape's face. 

Halting suddenly, she looked at the dog more closely. He was lying at Severus' feet, and was looking delighted at the fact that his belly was being scratched. "Where did you get that dog?" she asked, as Alexander wandered amiably out of the bedroom with a pair of too-small lurid yellow boxer shorts on. 

"I was out walking in the grounds and I found him." answered Severus, now kneeling on the ground beside Sirius and blowing in his face, making the dog snort and growl. "He looked hungry, so I brought him back here and sneaked some food out from breakfast."

Alexander and Daniel made eye contact, and both of them grinned. Alexander took a Kit Kat out of a biscuit tin, and the crackling of the foil alerted the dog, who leapt up and started begging for food. Stuffing the whole bar into his mouth, Alexander taunted the dog, who was looking malicious. Swallowing contentedly, he turned to go back into the bedroom, and Sirius grabbed the elastic bit of his boxers, and ripped the skimpy undergarments off completely. Shredding the material with very sharp teeth, Sirius looked benignly up at Snape, who quickly got him a biscuit. Munching on a Penguin, the dog looked strangely amused. 

"You nervous?" asked Snape, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. 

"Not really." Daniel answered, listening to Alexander try to find another pair of underwear, something that seemingly involved singing 'Baby Got Back' in a soprano voice. "That book'll help, though. Where'd you get it?" 

"I've had it for ages. I have another copy, so you can keep it, but I thought it could come in useful."

"I want to castrate someone." She said to no one in particular. "What do you think will happen if I try it on someone?" 

"Their balls'll fall off." Said Alexander, entering the room wearing a hideous pair of y-fronts. "In a big mess, and they'll probably die from blood loss." 

"Can you please put on some clothes?" Daniel pleaded, as the y-fronts were, again, far too small and certain extremities were in danger of falling out. 

"Why? I would walk around naked, but there's a lady in the room." He answered, with a grin and a gesture towards Snape. 

"Bugger off." He snapped, and pointed his wand at the offending fabric (or perhaps lack thereof), and the underwear grew until it fitted decently. "Nothing I haven't seen before." He added, with a wicked smile.

"I better get going. Try out a few more curses for the third task." Daniel said, holding up the book. 

"Alright then," Snape said, standing up, "see you later." 

Wandering aimlessly through the corridors of Hogwarts, Daniel perused the small book, stopping only when she heard a muffled shout of, _'Stupefy!'_ from an empty classroom drew her attention from a page entitled, 'Evisceration: A Beginner's Guide'. Not that she needed any tips, of course. 

Opening the door slowly, she was greeted with a shocked looking Harry and Hermione. Ron was there also, but he was incapacitated on the floor. 

"We weren't doing nothing!" shouted Harry stupidly. 

"Which means you must have been doing something." She answered smartly, closing the door behind her. Conjuring Ron back to consciousness, she stared at their expressions carefully. Shocked, yes, but there was something else. 

"Preparing for the third task?" she queried, flicking her wand and making four chairs appear out of nowhere. 

"Yeah. Just some basic hexes and defensive spells." Replied Hermione, fixing the cushions on the floor. 

"Defensive spells?" Daniel snarked, "why not offensive?" 

"We don't really know any." Said Ron sheepishly, lounging back in his chair. "And even if we did know some, we have no-one who's stupid enough to practice on." 

Considering this for a moment, Daniel stood up. 

"Well," she said slowly, holding the book Snape had given her. "If you want to, you can practice on me." Handing Hermione the book, she stood in the middle of the floor, while Harry stood opposite her. 

"Are you sure I won't hurt you?" Harry asked anxiously, while Ron looked pleased to be spectating. 

"She's a vampire, Harry. I doubt if you'll make much of an impact." Said Hermione, smiling at Daniel. Daniel smiled back, and waited for Harry to find a suitable spell. 

"Here's one. It stops something attacking you by shooting a lightning bolt at them." Harry handed Ron the book. "Sounds good."

Readying herself, Daniel remembered when a vampire hunter from Brussels had used this same spell on her before. Nothing much to a vampire, but on humans, most people end up crispy. 

"Blizten!" Harry roared, and a huge crackle sounded through the room, shaking the floor, the end of Harry's wand glowed white, and then a lightning bolt as thick as a person erupted out of it, hitting Daniel in the chest. There was a cry of surprise, and the force of the bolt caused her to fly backwards into a wall. Sitting up dazedly, she was tempted to laugh at the way the electricity had caused everyone's hair to stand on end, making Hermione look like a psychotic lion. 

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, his face very white.

"Yeah I'm fine." She answered, standing up, and feeling her eyebrows, which were sticking out perpendicular to her head. "What's next?"

After a few hours of rather inventive spells, including one that turned hair into live snakes, which they didn't try for obvious reasons, Daniel staggered into Severus' office, fell face first into the cushions on the sofa she slept on, and fell asleep almost immediately. 

Breakfast. Breakfast? The most important meal of the day. Everyone knows that. It's a pity, then, when your breakfast consists of day-old blood and a croissant. Hidden behind a newspaper, Daniel couldn't see sixteen-year-old Severus and Alexander try to flirt with each other while not making contact. It was hard to think that she'd forget nearly everything about the boy after incarceration. Dressed in mis-matched pajamas, the two boys were glancing nervously at Daniel, and then Alexander whispered something at Severus, who steeled himself and asked, 

"Daniel?" Putting the newspaper down, she raised her eyebrows in response. The kitchen they were sitting in was large enough for a family of 15, but still homely enough for two or three people. It was Daniel's favourite part of her home. "I need to tell you something."

He looked terrified. Daniel couldn't see it, but Alexander was holding his hand under the table. Seeing his discomfort, Daniel sat up straighter. Alexander looked nervous also; he was a guest in their home, staying for a few weeks during the summer holidays. 

"It's about, me, and," he coughed "and Alexander." 

"Oh. Are you going somewhere today?" she asked, ripping her croissant into bite-size pieces. 

"Eh, no. But it's been, there for a while, and I really want to tell you." He squeaked, fishing for the right words, and glancing at Alexander, who looked as though he'd love to drown himself in his cereal bowl. 

Looking at the two of them, Daniel waited for him to continue. 

"You see, for about a year now, Alexander and me," he looked at Alexander, and exhaled heavily, "I'm," he coughed again, "I just wanted you to know that," he looked at Daniel carefully, trying to anticipate her response, "for a year and a half, I've been, I'm gay." He finished finally, and Alexander lifted his gaze off his soggy cornflakes and fixed them on Daniel. The corners of her mouth and her eyebrows lifted in unison. 

"Well." She said softly. "I'm, not exactly surprised." Severus and Alexander shot each other a very worried look. 

"Why's that?" asked Alexander suddenly, running a hand through his shoulder length hair. 

"I'm not sure." She said thoughtfully. "But I suppose the way he talked endlessly about how amazingly nice you are sort of put me onto it." Alexander blushed a wonderful shade of scarlet. 

"You don't mind then?" asked Snape, flinching unnecessarily. 

"Why would I mind?" she replied incredulously, eating bits of her croissant. 

"I don't know." He muttered, shrugging. "I just assumed you'd want to see me end up happily married with a houseful of children."

Smiling broadly, she shook her head absently and took a piece of toast from the small mountain of it in the middle of the polished mahogany table. 

"As long as you're happy, I'll be happy." She answered, staring at them, reveling in their happiness and relief. 

"I'm going to get dressed." Severus announced, a huge grin on his face. Alexander watched as he walked out of the room. It was obvious he wanted to go also. He glanced at Daniel.

"Do _your_ parents know about this?" she asked, mildly interested. 

"That's why I'm here." He answered, gesturing around him. "They wouldn't let me back home." Frowning commiseratingly, she picked up her paper again. 

"You can go after him if you want." She said smiling, nodding towards the door. He leapt up out of his chair, and ran off up the stairs. She could hear muffled sounds of relief and celebration from the room above her. It was good seeing Severus so happy. Last summer, he had returned thoroughly miserable, muttering something to do with Sirius Black and public humiliation and never wanting to go back to Hogwarts again. She had suggested something to cheer him up, meeting with some friends or going off on a holiday. He chose the latter, and they arrived in Italy the next day. 

Staying in a Muggle hotel was a unique experience, as was having a cockroach wake you up in the morning by trying to crawl down your throat. Luckily for Severus, a boy from his year was there. Alexander Dylan, apparently. Daniel having met his parents before, the five of them had dinner in a restaurant the next night. Daniel briefly wondered why one of Severus' hands never came into contact with anything under than what was under the table. Afterwards, Daniel and Mr. and Mrs. Dylan went out to an all night bar, leaving Severus and Alexander to their own devices in Severus' hotel room. 

Something woke her up. Prising her face from the pillow, Daniel wondered briefly what it was that had awoken her. She couldn't hear anything untoward. Maybe it was something from the bedroom. Cautiously wandering over to the door, she pressed her ear against it, and failed to pick up any noise at all. Opening the door quickly, not allowing it a chance to squeak, she stepped inside. Nothing very out of the ordinary, except for a pair of lurid yellow boxer shorts hanging from the light fixture on the ceiling. Walking around the edge of the bed, she looked around for anything that would make enough noise to waken someone who wasn't exhausted from a night of passion. She saw it lying broken on the floor. An alarm clock and a glass had been knocked off the bedside table, and the hands on the clock face told her it had just went off. Switching it off so it wouldn't ring in the morning, she righted the table and set it back on. 

A muffled grunt sounded from behind her. 

Severus was lying with his head tucked underneath Alexander's chin, an arm around his chest. His left arm. A blackish smudge that looked like a bruise smeared the inside of his elbow. Alexander's right arm was hanging loosely around his back, hand resting just above his hip. Groaning, Alexander shifted in his sleep. Severus made a noise of protest and wrapped both arms tightly around him. Muttering, Alexander's eyes opened a fraction, smiled faintly, and turned back towards Snape, promptly embracing him also. Smiling in his half-sleep, Alexander kissed him on the forehead, and snuggled closer. 

Awwww. I'm counting down the days until I see Alan Rickman in a dress. He's so refined. It'll be hilarious. 

I would also like to dedicate this chapter to a friend of mine, my inspiration for Alexander Dylan, and the only gay Goth I've had the pleasure to meet, who _finally_ plucked up the courage to tell his parents he is gay. If you're reading this, Steven Dylan, congratulations. I told you it would be alright.

Xanadan


	22. Valley of the Shadow of DeathEaters

If you can get a chance, go and visit 'stars_planets_clocks' bio. There's a link there for the '404 Ways to Annoy Prof. Snape.' Well worth seeing. The site, 'whysnape' has lots of great links for anyone who likes Mr. 'I hate children, that's why I'm a teacher'. Hee hee. 

"I won't look prettier if I smile for the picture.

Motherfuckers never liked me then 

And they sure won't like me now.

Don't try to drag me down with your cliché

Your fake smile fits your faker face

But I find all my pleasure in your misery."

'Better of Two Evils'        Marilyn Manson 

Slurping his soggy cornflakes out of the bottom of his cereal bowl, Alexander rubbed Sirius' belly with his foot, while Daniel sipped some coffee and flicked through the Curse book. Shuffling distractedly through a heap of letters, Severus picked a particularly bulky one up and threw it at Alexander, who squealed with excitement and ripped it open. 

Reading it quickly, his ruffled hair seemed to jump up along with his eyebrows. 

"What is it?" asked Severus, not looking up from the letter he was reading. 

"Nothing." Alexander answered innocently, shoving it into Daniel's pocket. Glaring at him, Snape stood up and handed a letter to Daniel, who left it lying beside her. 

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Half eight." Answered Alexander, consulting the watch currently fastened around his ankle. 

"Better go then." She said decidedly, standing up and stretching. 

"Go where?" asked Snape. "The task isn't until 8 this evening."

"I'm going to practice." She answered. 

Walking along the cool, dimly light corridor, she emerged into the harsh light of the Entrance Hall, and spotted Harry coming out from breakfast. 

"We still going to practice?" he asked, glancing around him for Ron and Hermione. 

"Yeah." She answered briefly, watching Draco Malfoy wander out of the Hall with Crabbe and Goyle. He glanced over at her, and a faint smile lifted his face. 

"Daniel?" asked Hermione sharply, vying for her attention. 

"What?" she replied, still watching Draco's back as it disappeared down into the subterranean corridors. 

"Are we going to practice?" she continued bossily, leading Harry, Ron and Daniel along a series of heavily portraited corridors. Opening a door, Hermione gestured for them to enter. 

Stepping inside, they found it to be a huge classroom, walls covered floor to ceiling in thick cobwebs. Ron immediately tried to get out of the room, but Daniel flicked her wand and the cobwebs were gone. Looking happier, Ron sat down on a desk, and watched Harry pick out another curse to use on Daniel. Finding one, he asked Daniel nervously if she was all right, and Hermione simply observed with an interested look on her face, ready to perform the counter-curse. Harry planted his feet firmly on the ground. 

"Epidermon!" he shouted, and pink light shot out of his wand and hit Daniel in the face.  Her hands clamped onto her eyes. Stumbling, she fell backwards onto the floor with a bump. 

"I can't see!" she shrieked, getting up. Hermione gasped. It was as though she had never had eyes. Skin had grown over her eye sockets, leaving only smooth, slightly dented skin. Muttering the counter-curse, Hermione looked worriedly at Daniel, who was blinking furiously and rubbing her eyes. Opening them properly, Harry could see they were slightly bloodshot, but otherwise, all right. 

"Remember that one." Daniel said, looking at the two Harrys currently in bad focus in front of her. 

That night at dinner, the Hall was buzzing with excited conversation. Draco had taken residence opposite Daniel at the Slytherin table. He was poking the food on the plate in front of him. 

"You'd better eat something." She said, looking up at him. 

He opened his mouth to reply, but Professor Dumbledore had stood up. 

"Could the champions make their way down to the Quidditch Pitch." He said, smiling at the excited faces. "The rest of the school will follow in fifteen minutes." Standing up, Daniel was vaguely aware of Draco saying good luck, but she ignored him and walked along the table. She was first out the door. 

The warm summer air smelt like the forest, and the quickly falling dusk was tinted with scarlet and mauve. Footsteps behind her sounded lightly on the springy grass. The lake glittered enticingly at her as she entered the Quidditch stadium. The hedges looked black in the half-light. Suddenly, there was a crack, and about twenty huge lights flooded the area with light. She watched as the other champions arrived, quickly followed by the school. The teachers had front row seats. Not that there was anything other than hedges to watch. The moment before Bagman stared talking and the moment after he said to begin passed in a flurry of colours and noises, and before she knew it, she was walking towards the maze to the tumultuous applause of the Slytherin crowd, and polite acknowledgement from the remainder of the audience. 

The hedges cut off all noise. Eerily silent, she heard the crowd erupt into applause several more times, before everything was silent, except for the soft padding of her footsteps and the rustling of leaves. Wandering aimlessly through the hedges, peering around corners before she walked on, pausing every now and then to check if there were any noises that came from things not wanting to be heard. She stopped suddenly. A feeling of complete bliss came over her. Her mind went wonderfully blank, and suddenly, nothing mattered. Standing there, humming with happiness, she was barely aware of Fleur walking timorously towards her. 

"Daniel?" she asked, looking at her face and then the wand still clasped in her hand. "Are you alright?" the tone of her voice softened slightly, and she walked right up to Daniel, who wondered at the warmth radiating off her. Inexplicably, Daniel shook her head and she felt tears stinging her eyes. Fleur pulled her into a hug. Her mouth was millimeters away from Fleur's neck. She could sense the blood pulsing beneath the white skin. She shivered. Fleur muttered sympathies and pulled her tighter still. Wrapping her arms around Fleur in return, Daniel felt like she was embraced by an electric blanket. The sheer heat coming off this girl was enough to send her over the edge. The smell of the blood mere millimeters away from her, the throb of a heartbeat. 'Kill her'. Said a voice from inside her head. Daniel obliged. Fleur screamed, the high-pitched sound sliced through the soft darkness. Daniel drank. Slowly, Fleur sagged to the ground. The feeling that had descended over her so quickly evaporated in an instant. Staring at Fleur's body, not really knowing why she was lying there, realization dawned on Daniel, and she stared at the limp, lifeless form of the rival champion. Standing stock-still, listening in vain for any sounds that would indicate another wizard in her vicinity. 

"Accio invisibility cloak!" she roared, pointing her wand in various directions. Nothing. Someone had put the Imperius curse on her. Someone who wasn't there. Shaking her head frustratedly, she stepped over Fleur's body and walked on. 

She hadn't come across any obstacles yet. No creatures, or anything else. Wandering between the hedges, trying to keep in the middle, to minimize the chance of something swiping at her through the hedge. Turning a corner, she was met with a sphinx. Raising her eyebrows, Daniel walked slowly forward. 

"Hello." Said the sphinx in a deep, even voice. Her lion's tail flicked at a moth, and her amber eyes studied Daniel's face, which was currently half-hidden in a shadow cast from a hedge. "You should have died a long time ago." The sphinx stood up and paced around her. "Now you live in limbo, neither living nor dead, a parasite, feeding wherever you can, with no thought for the consequences, feared and reviled by society, marginalized by everyone who knows the truth about your dubious existence. A ball of evil disguised in a shell of a lesser being." Forcing herself to calm down, Daniel swallowed with difficulty, and stared back at the sphinx, hand clasped tightly around her wand. 

"Do you have a riddle for me?" Daniel asked, in a voice dangerously quiet. 

"Someone has already passed by here. I can only allow one person past me to the center." The sphinx blinked slowly, tail flicking. 

"As you were kind enough to point out," Daniel sneered, with a slight inclination of her head, "I am a ball of evil, not a person." The sphinx looked at her benignly, before shifting over to the left side of the path ahead. "Thank you." Daniel said, walking ahead, and the sphinx coughed slightly. Feigning sympathy, Daniel turned to face the sphinx again. "Hairball?"

Leaping to her feet, the sphinx snarled menacingly and swiped a four-taloned paw across Daniel's chest. Crying out in shock, Daniel fell backwards onto a hedge, clutching her ribs. Advancing slowly, the sphinx growled horribly, and stood on the wand that had fallen out of her hand. Thinking quickly, Daniel kicked the sphinx sharply under the chin, making it howl in agony, before turning on her again. 

"Blitzen!" shouted a voice, and the sphinx was thrown backwards into a hedge, and lay motionless on the ground, smoking slightly. Harry ran towards Daniel, glancing quickly at the deep lesions on her chest. "Lie still." He said softly. "Ferula." He muttered, and her chest was immediately bound tightly in bandages. 

"Where'd you learn that?" she asked slowly, letting him help her up. 

"I saw Professor Lupin do it once." He answered, supporting her with his left arm, holding his wand out in front of him. 

"Has Krum gone on ahead?" he asked, looking around a corner. 

"I think so." She said, wincing as Harry shifted his arm and bumped against the bandages. Going on for a bit without talking, they heard a scream of pain from somewhere in front of them. Quickening his speed, Harry half-dragged her along and they soon came to a clearing. Krum was lying on the ground, one of his legs practically ribbons of bloody flesh, a Blast Ended Skrewt standing menacingly over him, eating bits of Bulgarian. Throwing Daniel to one side, Harry shot spells at it, as it made clicking noises with its mandibles, scuttling forwards on its armored legs.

"Stupefy!" he roared, pointing the spell at the soft underbelly of the Skrewt. It made a screechy sound, and fell to the ground, one of its legs twitching. 

Picking Daniel up again, Harry walked her forward towards the podium in the center of the grassy clearing, where the Tournament Cup caught the dim light and reflected it onto the hedges. "Together?" he said, smiling at her. Nodding, Daniel hovered one of her hands over the handle of the cup. Harry did the same. They grasped the cup at the exact same moment. Grinning at each other, their smiles had barely faded when the world around them dissolved, and they traveled through swirling lights and colors, to destinations unknown. 

**This is where you review. Go now!**


	23. There's A Tunnel At The End of These Lig...

This is the last chapter. It's going to be really hard to end this story, because I've really enjoyed all the reviews and support I got for it. It will probably be quite abstract. I'm getting too vague for my liking. Hopefully, you'll be able to read between the lines. Metaphorically speaking, because there isn't anything between the damn lines anyway. The italics are some song lyrics from 'Absolution' the new album from Muse (except for the last one, it's from 'Origin of Symmetry', also Muse). JKR, please don't sue me. That goes for you too Matt Bellamy. 

_"Lips are turning blue_

_A kiss that can't renew_

I only dream of you 

_My beautiful."_

A flash of light and it was over. A cry of death and the green luminescence swept over her. Sensing rather than feeling her body hit the hard ground, she lay and listened to her last moments of life. Harry was screaming. Her remaining senses screamed also for her to save him, rescue him from the evil hanging foully in the air. 

"To be endlessly cold and dreaming I'm alive" 

A hand rested lightly on hers. The surgical cleanness surrounding her smelt bitter and noxious. She felt a voice talk quietly in her ear. One side of the pillow her head rested on dipped. Warm breath skittered over her face. He was still talking. He kept sniffing and choking, and soon she realised he was crying and begging, pleading with her to live and stay for him. She wanted to, and her body tensed slightly as she fought the inevitable lapse of consciousness. 

_"I know you're in this room, I'm sure I heard you sigh_

_Floating in between where our worlds collide."_

It was a warm, hazy day in June. The class was restless, and Daniel was trying her best to settle them for the lesson. Heavily pregnant, it was a struggle to stand up these days, never mind dealing with obnoxious teenagers. Adopting a cane to point at diagrams and incantations on the board, she spoke at length on the importance of a responsible attitude towards using Dark material. Then, a funny sort of spasm occurred in her belly, and she felt warm wetness trickling down her legs and splattering on the floor. Stretchered immediately to the Hospital Wing, a Midwife from St. Mungo's flooed in and began the long and arduous process of birthing. Seven hours and 5 tantrums later, all 10lb 5oz of Severus Snape entered the world. 

_"Fights and battles have begun_

_Revenge will surely come_

_Your hard times are ahead."_

The new boyfriend. Naturally, Severus was jealous of the attention diverted away from him. At 6 years old, he had cultivated a mass of shoulder length hair that he kept flicking out of his eyes as he made horrendous concoctions out of anything he found in the kitchen. The boyfriend, Matthew, a bulk of muscle and temperamental anger, was decidedly cold towards him. Never in front of Daniel, of course, but whenever Matthew was alone with Severus, total unacknowledgement of his presence usually suited him fine. 

Arriving home from some shopping, after a minor delay with the floo network, Daniel was greeted with the scattered debris of a mug and a bit of a damp stain on the carpet. Cleaning it up in a heartbeat, she walked on through to the kitchen, where Matthew was scrubbing at his trousers with a damp cloth. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, surprised at the painstaking way in which he decided to clean his trousers. 

"Your son knocked over my cup onto my good trousers." He snarled, looking carefully for signs of staining. 

"He's just a kid." She answered, controlling the minor surge of panic that bubbled in her stomach. 

"He shouldn't be so clumsy." was the reply she got. 

"Where is he?" she queried, trying to make it sound conversational.

"In his room."

Walking warily up the stairs, she turned the handle to his room. Entering and closing the door with a spell behind her, she went over and sat beside his prone form, curled up on the bed. The side of his face she could see in the half-light looked fine, but after coaxing and soft tones, she managed to turn his face around. The entire other side of his face was a purple-black bruise. When she let go of his chin, he burrowed the injury back into the pillow. 

"I'll get rid of him." She whispered, trying to ignore his flinch when she touched his shoulder. Walking determinedly down the hallway, she met him coming out of the living room. 

"Hey baby." He said huskily, striding forwards. He went to put him arms around her, but she punched him in the gut, and when he bent double, kneed him under the chin. He rose quicker than she expected. Slamming a ham-sized fist into her face, he was on top of her in a flash as her skull rattled and she fell. 

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" he hissed in her face, one of his hands holding both of hers and his other poised above her chest. 

"You hit him." She spat, her head feeling increasingly swollen. 

"Little brat was asking for it." He growled, pummeling her chest with full-blown punches. By the end of it, it was all she could do to lie there, bleeding and screaming at him. She couldn't hit him. Her arms were broken. Breathing was agony. She stopped, inhaling only to holler obscenities at him. He had hit her yesterday. They were rowing over something. Severus stood and watched and finally burst into tears when Matthew slapped her. He was brave. He stood his ground and yelled at him, saying that the Ministry of Magic would have him locked up, and that he'd rot in Azkaban, which was fine by him. Matthew had let it go, but Daniel had not. She talked to him that night, but begged him not to anger Matthew further. She now knew the kind of person Matthew was, and she vowed to rid herself and her son of his presence. 

Weighted bodies take years to find. 

_"This is the last time I'll abandon you"_

Severus' father was a man named James. Handsome, intelligent,

a Wizard, a very powerful one too, but no sense of priority. 

A brief fling, and then they parted ways. The last she heard the early Death Eaters killed him.

_"So I'll love whatever you've become…_

_I think our lives have just begun."_

"Ha ha! I won!" Severus shouted, holding his tennis racket above his head. Alexander picked up the ball and fired it back at him. Grinning broadly, the two of them competed moronically for most of the afternoon. 

Collapsing into a chair in the shade, Severus swallowed an entire glass of water, and then poured another over his head. Alexander did the same, and then threw one over Severus. Glaring at him, Severus glanced briefly at Daniel, who ignored them and continued reading her book. 

Getting up, Severus gently pulled Alexander's hair, leading him into the house. Deciding that they were in need of mature supervision, Daniel followed reluctantly, thinking of stains on furniture and how to ease carpet burns. 

The door to the indoor pool was open, and she heard laughing and splashing. Peering in through the door carefully, in case delicate eyes disagreed with the activities going on, she was relieved to find they were only trying to drown each other in the shallow end of the pool. Neither of them could swim without a lifejacket to make sure they wouldn't sink like a brick. 

Sitting on the edge of the pool, feet dangling into the cool water, she watched them revert to small children again, giggling and shrieking and happier than she'd ever seen them. 

"Are you going to join us Mrs. Snape?" called Alexander, and Severus laughed at his inaccurate politeness.  She shook her head. 

Picking up their robes from the damp floor, Daniel set them on a chair by the door and walked back outside. 

_"For all the life that you'll lose_

_And you watch this space_

_And I'm going all the way."_

The ceiling of the Hospital Wing blurred into focus. Someone was shouting. Shrieking about someone being back. There was a warm, heavy weight at the end of her bed. Her head felt like someone filed it with cement. A few stray hairs lay across her face. The tickling was almost unbearable. A hand brushed them away. She turned her head towards the owner of the hand. Alex. He smiled weakly at her, his eyes slightly bloodshot. The weight at the end of the bed was lifted. There was no noise anymore. Then there was a pop and her hand was immediately clasped tightly in someone else's. 

"How long has she been awake?" hissed a voice above her head. 

"A few seconds." Answered Alexander. "Leave her be, she's probably tired." The person ignored Alexander, and she looked round at Sirius. He smiled broadly, eyes watery and hair ruffled. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly, holding her hand very tight. She tried to answer him, but her throat felt dry and she needed a drink. He must have guessed, because he reached into a cupboard and pulled out a glass with a straw in it. Setting it on the table, he then made an incision in a bag of O- blood and squeezed it into the glass. Daniel shifted herself up the pillows a bit, resting her head on the back of the bed. Looking slightly surprised, Sirius handed her the drink carefully. It wasn't too heavy. Removing the straw, she gave him a reproachful look, and drained the glass. 

He grinned at her, and placed the glass back inside the cupboard, for someone else to clean. 

"What happened?" she asked, looking over at Harry, fast asleep. 

"The cup was a portkey to a Death Eater gathering." He said heavily. "Voldemort has returned." He let this sink in. She stared at the white sheets on the bed opposite. He stared anxiously at her face, trying to imagine what she was thinking. 

"Where's Severus?" Daniel asked, ignoring the look of revulsion on Sirius's face. 

"Dunno." He answered stubbornly. 

"I want to see him." She pressed on, knowing Sirius would comply begrudgingly and go get him. He got up and exited the ward, looking slightly unappreciated. Smiling faintly, she settled back down into the insulating bedsheets. 

_"Staying awake to chase a dream_

_Tasting the air you're breathing in_

_I know I won't forget a thing."_

The door to the Hospital flew open and slammed on the wall behind it. Before she could get up, suffocating warmth had latched onto her. 

"You're going to choke her." Said a muffled voice, and Severus was peeled off her by a placid looking Alexander. Sirius sat on the other side of her, a look on his face that could sour milk. 

"I thought you were dead." Severus gasped, looking very pale. 

"I am." She replied, grinning at him. 

"You know what I mean." He snickered, his eyes flicking briefly towards Sirius. 

"How come I'm not really, properly dead then?" she asked, wondering why it hadn't occurred to her before. 

"It's impossible to kill something that's already dead." Sirius answered moodily.

"Or so says our resident necrophiliac." Giggled Alexander.

"Shut up." Snapped Sirius. 

"Piss off." Hissed Severus, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

"Make me." Growled Sirius, standing up. 

Severus looked as though he would really love to, but Daniel coughed pointedly and they shot each other murderous looks and sat back down instead. 

There was a brief silence. 

"How's Harry?" she asked. 

"Fine."  Answered Alexander. "Bit freaked out, understandably, but he should be o.k."

"What about the other two?" she pressed on, "Fleur and Krum?"

Alexander and Severus exchanged glances. 

"Both dead." Snapped Sirius, staring childishly at the floor. 

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"You killed Fleur, and Krum got eaten by a Skrewt." He elaborated, running a hand through his hair. Looking a bit repulsed, he wiped his hand on his robes, leaving a grimy stain. 

"I haven't washed in a while." He explained, noticing the looks he was getting. 

Daniel's remaining days at Hogwarts were spent clearing jars of slimy things into padded boxes. Alexander worked with her, while Severus marked essays and sneered at them. 

Arriving back home, all of the boxes and crates were put in the basement, then Severus and Alexander made up some pathetic excuse about seeing if everything upstairs was all right, before sprinting up the stairs and straight into their bedroom. 

_"It's a new dawn_

_It's a new day_

_It's a new life_

_For me, _

_And I'm feeling good."_

Meandering through the halls to her own bedroom, she passed a locked door, behind which bed springs were squeaking like mad, and occasional shrieks filtered through. 

Opening her own door, greeted with familiar trinkets from all over the world, and a wonky clay pot Severus had made for her when he was about three, she settled herself on the bed, and mused on how damn good it felt to be home.

**Xanadan**


End file.
